Arkansas TV stories on the controversy

At least two stories on the Ivory-bill controversy were aired yesterday on Arkansas TV news shows.

1. On KARK (the bold font is mine):

But what if there was a rush to judgment about the bird’s existence? That is the claim of Dr. Jerome Jackson, an Ivory-Billed specialist at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers. He has published an article, claiming he and at least a dozen other scientists believe the bird spotted in Arkansas is really a Pileated Woodpecker.

"I think there a number of decisions that were made hastily,” said Jackson. "I was absolutely certain that it was not an ivory billed woodpecker, because of the amount of white that is shown on the wing."

2. On KTHV:

"That is their primary evidence and yet that evidence doesn't stand up to scientific scrutiny,” says Jerome Jackson.

Jackson is an ornithologist and ivory bill specialist from Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers, Fl.

He feels too much hype has surrounded the bird's existence. Jackson has written a 15-page article disputing Luneau's findings.

Jackson says, “Measurements alone do not constitute scientific [sic]. The results of scientific effort must be verifiable independently by other scientists."

You may be able to view a video of the KTHV news segment here (on my computer, the news segment starts playing about 30 seconds after I click the word "here").