On a more clear-cut issue, the Tasaday hoax has shown that exaggeration by both the media and power-hungry politicians combined with the support of scientists who turn a blind eye can lead to exploitation of incredible magnitude.
The ivory-billed woodpecker, a crow-sized bird with a prominent ivory bill, once was fairly common in the hardwood forests of the southeastern United States. Extensive logging operations deprived the bird of its habit. Since then, the bird’s absence has made it a seemingly mythical figure to many, like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster.
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We do not believe that Audubon, who was worried about the effects of development long before such concerns became fashionable, would be surprised to know that the ivory-billed woodpecker is quite possibly extinct today. But we’ll cross our fingers, as many others are doing, and hope the bird hasn’t vanished into history.
Speaking of “allegedly,” the “alleged” (see, here’s that connotation again!) re-discovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Arkansas is the subject of Louis Bevier’s presentation to Merrymeeting Audubon on Tuesday. Louis, now a Research Associate at Colby College and a trip leader for Field Guides gained further notoriety this past spring when he joined with David Sibley and others to write a critique of the evidence supporting the rediscovery of the Ivory-billed woodpecker, specifically the “Luneau video.” Detailed, scientific analysis shows there’s more than reasonable doubt that this is not a Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Louis’s presentation will focus on this, and other pertinent questions about this topic. We’re lucky to have such a great ornithological resource nearby to present this program, and I am very much looking forward to it. Join us on Tuesday (the 28th) at 7:00pm at the Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick. (See you there!)
(Since the discovery announcement, the CLO has received nearly 3,000 reports of ivorybills, some from places as unlikely as Vancouver and Vermont.)Across this fair country, people are obviously getting a lot of tantalizing glimpses of large black-and-white birds. If the known historical range of the Ivory-bill included Minnesota, I'm confident that we'd currently be treated to "reports since 1944" maps dutifully showing possible Ivory-bill sightings in Minnesota.
The ornithological world -- indeed all Americans -- should be thrilled to finally have proof that this magnificent creature the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, long considered a secretive denizen of the most remote southern forests, is neither extinct, endangered, nor secretive, but a very widespread and conspicuous backyard bird over a range larger than ever previously reported!
Ivory-Billed Woodpecker: Phantom of the Bayou, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Dec. 2 with Bobby Harrison; $45, includes wine, dinner, program. Register ASAP.
In 1971, Robert Manns made national news with a report of an ivory-bill having responded to a tape along the Santee River near Columbia. I discussed this report with Manns several years ago and it seems likely to me that the bird responding might have been a wood duck.This incident may be the same one that is described here.
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