More on the alleged IBWO audio evidence

Last week, we read this in the New York Times:
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"The thrilling new sound recordings provide clear and convincing evidence that the ivory-billed woodpecker is not extinct," Dr. Prum said in a statement.
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The headline read "Vindication for Ivory-Billed Woodpecker and Its Fans".

David Luneau (of the search team) tells us that these recordings are actually not new, and to the team of authors, they are not convincing proof.

David wrote this a few days ago:
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Interestingly, our team of authors does not agree on the origin of these sounds, which is why we didn't put them in our paper in the first place. We maintain that the acoustic information, while quite interesting, does not reach the level we require for "proof".
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I don't know why Prum and Robbins would be skeptical on the evidence in the original paper, then suddenly become believers after hearing some audio. As far as I know, Jerry Jackson, David Sibley, and Kenn Kaufman are still among the skeptics.

Here's what Cornell wrote in their paper:
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Double-knock sounds strikingly similar to Campephilus display-drums were recorded on several of the ARUs and appear to be concentrated in the vicinity where drumming was heard on 9 November 2004. We cannot positively associate these recorded signals as belonging to ivory-billed woodpecker, however, and several seem out of context. Series of nasal calls closely resembling those recorded by A. A. Allen at the Singer Tract in 1935 were recorded at two places in the White River National Wildlife Refuge, but these may have been given by blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata, a notorious mimic). Certainly, if blue jays do mimic ivory-billed woodpeckers in this region, the implication that a model exists bears investigating.
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Again, they say that multiple series of kent calls may have been given by blue jays.

Update: In Jerry Jackson's book "In Search of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker,” page 182, you’ll find his account of hearing a Blue Jay give this call in New Jersey--far outside the range of Ivory-bills. This call is evidently part of their normal repertoire, meaning that they can produce a series of "kent" notes without ever having heard an Ivory-bill or an Ivory-bill tape.

Regarding the double-knocks--I would very much like an explanation for that "several seem out of context" remark. To me, that sounds like they may have heard double-knocks while also hearing diagnostic sounds of other birds (for example, maybe Pileated Woodpecker vocalizations).

I really think that Prum, Robbins, and Jackson should un-withdraw their rebuttal paper! In this web-enabled age, I think the ultimate truth is likely to arise much more quickly if these kinds of debates are free and open to the public.

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A couple of additional items:

1. Take a look at what's going on--they're now using herbicide to kill a hundred or more healthy trees, in an effort to indirectly feed a species that (in my opinion) has likely been extinct for decades.

2. Laura Erickson has been maintaining a nice page of links about the Ivory-billed woodpecker.