Why aren't pheasants will-o-the-wisps?

I think this is one of the weakest Ivory-bill arguments (from "The Grail Bird", page 248):

[John Fitzpatrick] also suggested that perhaps during the years when the birds were hunted extensively by collectors, only the quietest and wariest individuals in a few remnant forests survived to pass on their genes to future generations. This could explain why it is so difficult to find an ivory-bill and record its calls. Perhaps all the noisy and approachable ones were killed off a century ago.

I thought about this argument on a recent pheasant hunt. The pheasants in this area are generally sparse, and they've faced hunting pressure for many years. You could argue that the most approachable pheasants were killed off each year. However, the pheasants have not evolved into will-o-the-wisps that are impossible to shoot or see well.

I completely agree that many birds respond to hunting pressure by becoming more wary. The fallacy here is assuming that the Ivory-bill just continued to become more and more wary until it became unphotographable. In world history, I don't know of any bird species that has become remotely as wary as the postulated Ivory-bill. However, I think the "will-o-the-wisp" theory is necessary to explain how the bird could be seen maybe 18 times in a small area, while not being definitively photographed for 60+ years.

Tanner's book does contain this passage on page 63:

Arthur T. Wayne wrote in his field catalogue a note under April 22, 1892: "I saw and heard four Ivory-bills the day before in California Swamp, but could not get a shot as they were too wild, and couldn't be approached nearer than 300 or 400 yards." This was in an area where several Ivory-bills had been shot, and these birds could have become wary from shooting. The fact that they were pursued so constantly and avidly by collectors is probably the reason for the wary reputation of the bird".

In my own experience, Ivory-bills have not been particularly shy, certainly not noticeably more wary and wild than the Pileated Woodpecker.

In my reading, I don't recall any old-timer describing warier Ivory-bills than Arthur T. Wayne did above. Yet even in his extreme case of avidly hunted birds, collectors got close enough to the Ivory-bills to shoot several of them, and even the remaining birds let one person get close enough to see and hear four Ivory-bills in a single day.

Pictures of "Elvis"?

Ken Rosenberg talks about the Luneau video at the AOU meeting here.

Although he says he was hoping he wouldn't have time for questions, he did take two. I think his answer to the second question is very significant:

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Q: Have there not been sightings of several Pileated woodpeckers with white elsewhere on the wing, perhaps on the flight feathers?

A: The question is whether there have there been sight records of unusual Pileated Woodpeckers with extra white on the wing. This is really something we were worried about and addressed very carefully. Could this bird be an aberrant Pileated woodpecker? There are reports of birds from this region of Arkansas, and the pictures that I've seen, and Jim Bednarz, who might be in the audience, is the one who's been seeing these birds most frequently. There's a picture of a Pileated perched that is molting or missing its wing coverts and exposing a larger portion of white than you would normally see on a perched bird. The bird does not have more white than a normal Pileated, but you're seeing more white on the perched bird because of the missing coverts. We are seeing nothing that would produce a pattern especially symmetrically on both wings, extensive white across the secondaries, that could produce a pattern similar to what we're seeing in the video.
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Note that Rosenberg talks about birdS (plural) with extra white on the wing, and also pictureS (plural). He then describes only one abnormal Pileated in detail. It would be nice if Cornell would release more details about the other abnormal Pileateds encountered by the search team, and also release the pictures that Rosenberg mentioned above.

I think it's very likely that Cornell obtained good looks and even pictures of Elvis, but since it was obviously a Pileated when seen well, there was no excitement.

Remember, according to the Arkansas Times, Bednarz has seen several Pileated woodpeckers with an abnormal amount of white wing feathers in the Cache River refuge, and he believes there is an isolated population of Pileated woodpeckers in the Cache river bottoms who have an uncharacteristic amount of white on their wing feathers.

In early September, I emailed Bednarz to ask for details on these abnormal birds, but I haven't yet received a response.

I think it's fair to ask why Cornell didn't mention these abnormal Pileateds in their original Science paper, and I think it's fair to ask why they are not mentioned in "The Grail Bird".

Where are the Ivory-bill "sound combinations"?

Ivory-bills were known to be noisy birds. They produced three major sounds: a loud double-rap, a "kent" call powerful enough to be heard (under good conditions) nearly a quarter-mile away, and a loud wooden wing sound. When the birds were around, observers often reported hearing two or all three of these sounds within a short time.

In Cornell's 18,000 hours of audio data from Arkansas, they recorded some kent-like calls (in an area where Blue Jays were observed making kent-like calls). They recorded some double-knocks, but the recordings are a poor match for verbal descriptions of the Ivory-bill double-rap. They don't mention recording any loud wooden wing noise, and they don't mention any double-rap ever being recorded in conjunction with a kent-call.

If Ivory-bills were present, I would expect some of the ARUs to record a combination of Ivory-bill sounds. Sometimes, I think they would record kent calls, some double-raps, and maybe some loud wing noise within a few minutes. It seems very unlikely that an Ivorybill would produce only some kent-like calls, or only a double-rap or two, while never producing the other sounds while within range of the ARU. I just don't think they could be wary enough to avoid an ARU.

Of course, Blue Jays can make kent calls, but are unlikely to produce double-raps or loud wing noise. And of course, Pileateds can produce double-raps, but not kent calls or a loud wooden wing noise.

Overall, I think Cornell's sound evidence significantly weakens an already-weak case for Ivory-bills in Arkansas.

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Note that you can hear the Ivory-bill's wooden wing sound in John Fitzpatrick's presentation here. He plays a short 1935 audio clip about 2/3 of the way through, near the end of the section on the Luneau video. This short clip, recorded at a nest hole, contains kent calls, some tapping, then the wooden sound of the Ivory-bill flying away.

A local perspective

An Arkansas reader who wishes to remain anonymous emailed me this (the bold font is mine):

Tom, I would like to thank you for putting up this info on your site so the everyday layman has some source to see the otherside of the fence. I live right here in the very middle of the area of question for [many decades]. Never in my life have I seen so much knee jerk reactions take place with so little evidence to back it up. It seems that all info on this find has been put on a need to know basis and All the everyday people have been deemed in the Not need to know position.

Like I said, I & several others thank you for this info. I will tell you that your site is being observed by many & the info released on it has made several people in decision making positions move back & start to ask questions.

In an earlier post to your site you made a point of their being an abnormal Pileated Woodpecker find in the exact area of where these first sightings were suppose to have been made. That info has raised great attention in this area. Number 1, it was always thought by the locals that this is what they might have seen in the first place, Second, if this was what they found, everyone is wondering why they didn't release the info on the find of these birds? This is a very touchy item over here right now. It seems that when a person is ask about this info, they just act like they don't even know what you are talking about and avoid the issue completely.

It would be a great help if you had additional info on this subject & if you do could you post it to your site so ALL the uninformed public could see it. Not only are our eyes watch your site closely, but the powers that be are also. This info, of all that has been revealed has gained the most attention & it also is the one that has had the most attempt given to keep the fire put down out on.

Like I said, Thanks again. I, like most others here have no problem with the Bird being here if it is & protecting it if it is here, but it is starting to appear that things may not be as they seem & the powers that be are maybe using this deal to push other agendas that they want done & this has now got them the backing to do these! Without real proof one way or the other released I am afraid it will put two groups, the Birders & Hunters, in a position to become enemies over an issue where both have not been given all the real proof up front. That would be a terrible shame if this was to happen at the cost of someone else's private agenda!

He also wrote this followup email:

[Regarding abnormal Pileateds] It is rumor that has begun to be talked about around here. I first heard it about 3 weeks ago. I remembered reading about it on you site. It may not have any basis, but the subject of this has become a hot topic. It was also stated the other night on a local TV station that this was what some believed was the case. The origin of this info is not know, but when I seen the same type of info on TV, hear about it on the street & see it posted on your site I found it to much of a coincidence that you had came up with the very same idea & also had quotes on your site that the Birder group had confirmed seeing such a bird in the area in the past.

The overall affect of this finding was not a big deal at first, but as time has past & all these new regulations & restrictions have been placed on the local people that has banned them from using an area that they have been able to use for generation has not went over very well. We were told this would not happen, but yet it did & has to date not been changed. With this in mind of what has been done & that no positive ID has been made, it is starting to fester into some real issues I am afraid. These people have been raised in these swamps & know more about them than anyone alive. It is a problem for them to understand how something like this is suppose to be there & no one in the local area can ever recall seeing one. In this area little can go unnoticed completely to everyone forever by the ones that were raised here & used to be able to use it before they were banned from using an area they had used forever. It has become a sore subject with most of the locals that, as you said, thousands of man hours of searching & other methods have been used for some time & till this date, not one photo or confirmed sighting has been made till yet, but this issue has still be deemed to be the #1 issue & the local uses of the areas have been put to an end with no real proof to support such an action has been supplied to them till yet. A lot of us laymen have become Ivorybill experts just from researching the data available. One thing that has been a real question is why this bird or birds has became a bird that has done everything different from what was know of it from past studies that were done. In past studies it seems that the bird was not that shy of a bird, it was not that hard to find if there, it was a very vocal bird, & the bird stayed in the same basic area in the past data & studies of the bird. Now were have a bird that goes 180 degrees from all we have ever known about it. This bird has now become so shy that it can disappear at a moments notice, it seems to be impossible to find, it never says anything at all when people are listening, and it never stays in the same place more than once? The locals cannot understand why this bird is so hard to find. They have all been all over these areas. If they are looking for something they can find it when they look, if it is there & most have the attitude that if they cannot find it, it is because it most likely not there.

One need to understand this, This area is the Pebble Beach or Augusta Golf Course of these people. This is an area that they have used by them for generations & is some of the best areas that go along with what is these peoples version of a golf game is. Now look at what has happen when this bird has suppose to have been seen on their premiere golf course. They were locked out of it.

How does one think the people of Pebble Beach or Augusta Golf course would feel & react is this was to happen on their golf courses, the courses were closed, & they were banned from using them for an issue that had not been proved or backed up in any way, but yet the banned stayed anyway? Does one think they would also have issues from being locked out?

Hope this helps put a little light on this issue from a local perspective.

Charif on the recorded double-knocks

On Russ Charif's treatment of the recorded double-knocks in his AOU presentation:

I completely agree with one of his opening quotes: "Because of the simple structure of these sounds, it can be very hard to definitively rule out other sources for any particular double knock."

He put up a slide containing this information:
Many non-biological sources can produce closely spaced double knock-like sounds: tree branches in wind, gunshots, raindrops, vehicles and other machinery.

He then went on to point out that the 54 recorded double-knocks were not randomly distributed in space or time, implying that they were not all likely produced by non-biological sources. I can agree with that conclusion too.

However, disturbingly, he finished his presentation without even mentioning alternative *biological* sources of double-knocks--Pileated Woodpeckers do double-knock, and other woodpeckers and even American Crows are possibilities. Note that Jerome Jackson said: "I've heard pileated woodpeckers make that kind of sound; I've heard crows make that kind of sound in breaking open a nut."

It would be interesting to hear what other bird sounds were recorded within +/- five minutes of each of the recorded double-knocks. For example, I wonder if Pileated Woodpecker calls and/or drumming was recorded in conjunction with many of the double-knocks.

"Kent" calls very likely from Blue Jays?

The video of Russell Charif's AOU presentation on the audio evidence is available here.

One slide deals with "Kent-like Note Sequences in the White River NWR". It says that the sequences were recorded on four days at one site in White River NWR, 17-31 Jan 2005.

A subsequent slide says:
- Several observers have reported blue jays producing kent-like sounds in this area.
- Blue jays are present within +- 5 minutes in all four sequences.
- No recordings of blue jays producing these sounds have been obtained, despite focused efforts.

Charif says it this way: "However, one issue that we are particularly concerned about is that several observers from our field teams have reported hearing and seeing blue jays making sounds very much like this in this area."

Given the above information, I don't think it's sensible to claim that these kent calls are evidence of Ivory-bills.

(As always, unless otherwise noted, I've added the bold font).

Some humor

This has some people laughing, regardless of their stance on the Ivory-bill debate...