Jackson on hybridization

In some circles, it's been speculated that the abnormal Pileateds in the search area may actually have been Ivory-bill/Pileated hybrid birds. I posed the question to Jerome Jackson, who replied:

While an Ivory-bill/Pileated hybrid might be possible, it is highly unlikely. Intergeneric hybrids are rare and when they occur we often later find out that the generic distinction isn't so sound after all. The genus Campephilus and genus Dryocopus are not at all closely related. Recent studies suggest considerable molecular difference.

Jackson's words on this issue should carry some weight. As you may know, Jerome Jackson has been called "the world's foremost expert on the Ivory-billed woodpecker". He's the author of ''In Search of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker"; and he's also listed as an author of both the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and Pileated Woodpecker species accounts in The Birds of North America.