Post by: K Frame on April 28, 2005, 08:55:42 AM
Several experts have spotted and heard an ivory-billed woodpecker in a protected forest in eastern Arkansas near the last reliable sighting of the bird in 1944, and one was captured on video last year.
"The ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), long suspected to be extinct, has been rediscovered in the 'Big Woods' region of eastern Arkansas," researchers wrote in the journal Science in an article hastily prepared for release.
Drumming sounds made by the birds have also been heard, the researchers said.
"This is huge. Just huge," said Frank Gill, senior ornithologist at the Audubon Society. "It is kind of like finding Elvis."
Gill said there is little doubt the sightings are genuine. One male was videotaped from a boat in 2004.
"The ivory-billed woodpecker is one of six North American bird species suspected or known to have gone extinct since 1880," wrote the researchers, led by John Fitzpatrick of the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology in New York.
"The others are Labrador duck (Camptorhynchus labradorius), Eskimo curlew (Numenius borealis), Carolina parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis), passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius), and Bachman's warbler (Vermivora bachmanii)."
"LORD GOD" BIRD
A large, dramatic-looking bird, the ivory-billed woodpecker was known to be shy and to prefer the deep woods of the U.S. Southeast. It was sometimes nicknamed the "Lord, God bird," Fitzpatrick told reporters in a telephone briefing.
"It is such a striking bird. When people would see it they would say, 'Lord, God what a woodpecker.' That's where it came from," he said.
As the name suggests, the birds have ivory-colored bills that help distinguish them from the similar but much more common pileated woodpecker.
The large black-and-white birds have distinctive white wing patches and measure at least 13 inches (34 cm) from "wrist" to tail. Males have a red crest.
The survival of ivory bills is closely tied to that of the deep, swampy forests it lived in. "Its disappearance coincided with systematic annihilation of virgin tall forests across southeastern United States between 1880 and the 1940s," the researchers wrote.
The last confirmed sighting was in 1988 in eastern Cuba but the U.S. bird is considered to be a separate "race," the Audubon society says.
"There have been lots and lots of reports and many of them have been off but others have been possible," Gill said in a telephone interview. "But this time we got it."
Gill said the bird was seen just over the border from Louisiana where the last documented ivory-bill was seen in 1944. "As a woodpecker flies it's not far," he said.
The birds only live about 15 years so the sightings mean they must be breeding somewhere.
"There has got to be a pretty serious lineage," Gill said. "It's got to be more than a few."
"If there is a next holy grail ... the next holy grail would be to find a mated pair," Fitzpatrick said.
People are likely to flock to the area to try to see the birds themselves but it will be difficult, Gill said.
"It is not something you just go down and see. Your odds are very low," Gill said. "It is remote, difficult country. This time of year it is getting very buggy and very snakey and there is a lot of foliage."
But the discovery may help get protection for a larger area of the Big Woods, the nonprofit Nature Conservancy said.
Fitzpatrick said some of the hardwood trees the birds depend on have grown back after logging in the early part of the 20th century. "The conditions are only going to get better," he said.
"In concept, at least, it is possible the worst for this bird has passed. Proper management could let it thrive again," Fitzpatrick added.
Post by: Brad Johnson on April 28, 2005, 09:24:08 AM
"Faithful people encourage me. Religious people scare me." -bumper sticker on the same truck
Brad
Post by: 50 Shooter on April 28, 2005, 12:30:28 PM
That's what the whole issue is about, nothing more.
Post by: Sylvilagus Aquaticus on April 28, 2005, 01:24:01 PM
I wonder if they taste like crow?
Regards,
Rabbit.
Post by: grampster on April 28, 2005, 02:30:41 PM
Post by: Standing Wolf on April 28, 2005, 04:55:09 PM
Quote
"This is huge. Just huge," said Frank Gill, senior ornithologist at the Audubon Society. "It is kind of like finding Elvis."
Just what the world's been waiting for: an obese rock and roll woodpecker.
Post by: Guest on April 28, 2005, 05:29:44 PM
So much media time spent on this Woodpecker today.
Now we lost another industry today, laying off the rest of the Kohler folks up in Searcy, just a quick news item. Cheaper to make fixures for bathrooms in China or somesuch...
More media time on another Movie with Ashley Judd being made near me...maybe I need to be an extra LOL...but Woody the Woodpecker had the limelight, and will for a bit.
"AR-Land of Opportunity" - only if you are crooked politician and care not about the citizens....
I've busted my share of ducks where this woodpecker is,...betcha the powers that be make it off limits to duck hunt some areas now...
Post by: Pb on April 28, 2005, 06:09:34 PM
Post by: caseydog on April 28, 2005, 06:46:46 PM
A man is caught, by a forest ranger, sitting at a make-shift campfire, and to the ranger's horror, eating a bald eagle. The man is consequently put in jail for the crime. On the day of his trial, the conversation went something like this:
JUDGE: "Do you know that eating a bald eagle is a federal offense?"
MAN: "Yes I do. But if you let me argue my case, I'll explain what happened."
JUDGE: "Proceed."
MAN: "I got lost in the woods. I hadn't had anything to eat for two weeks. I was so hungry. Next thing I see is a Bald Eagle swooping down at the lake for some fish. I knew that if I followed the Eagle I could maybe steal the fish. I caught up with the eagle who lighted upon a tree stump to eat the fish. I threw a stone toward the eagle hoping he would drop the fish and fly away. Unfortunately, in my weakened condition, my aim was off, and the rock hit the eagle squarely on his poor little head, and killed it. I thought long and hard about what had happened, but figured that since I killed it it I might as well eat it since it would be more disgraceful to let it rot on the ground."
JUDGE: "The court will take a recess while we analyze your testimony."
15 minutes goes by and the judge returns.
JUDGE: "Due to the extreme circumstance you were under and because you didn't intend to kill the eagle, the court will dismiss the charges."
The Judge then leans over the bench and whispers: "If you don't mind my asking, what does a bald eagle taste like?"
MAN: "Well your honor, it is hard to explain. The best I can describe it is: somewhere between a California Condor and a Spotted Owl."
Ray
Post by: Wildalaska on April 28, 2005, 06:55:49 PM
Blam blam blam
WildokbacktosleepAlaska
Post by: K Frame on April 28, 2005, 07:58:50 PM
All I know is that I'm lying in bed, semi-comatose, when this horrific jackhammering starts, followed a heart beat later by a terrific ruckus as my dogs take exception to what they think is someone at the front door.
Post by: Sylvilagus Aquaticus on April 28, 2005, 09:35:03 PM
I swear I've got one that barks at flatulent squirrels in the neighbor's yard. Invariably, it's around 0dawn:30 also.
Regards,
Rabbit.
Post by: Tallpine on April 29, 2005, 02:00:44 PM