Ivory-billed Woodpecker reported found, again

Great Argus

Great Argus

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
Yet again the legendary Ivory-bill is reported living, this time by a group of researchers who have just submitted a paper detailing their sightings over the last 10 years. They report multiple sightings, even pairs and a family group of in the swamps of Louisiana. They have photos, audio, and video to support their claims, the photos and stills from video are included in the paper.

Researchers claim to have sighted a bird not seen since 1944

The paper itself is linked in the second paragraph, photos are at the bottom.

Potentially very interesting indeed but I'm skeptical, all their photos are just as bad (or worse) than the historical photos. All of the photos came from camera traps/drone footage - they state that although they had a dozen direct and good observations, all of these lack photographic documentation. Also seems just too soon after being declared extinct by the USFWS, perfect timing for a rediscovery story. Not sure I'm convinced just yet.
 
Great Argus said:
Yet again the legendary Ivory-bill is reported living, this time by a group of researchers who have just submitted a paper detailing their sightings over the last 10 years. They report multiple sightings, even pairs and a family group of in the swamps of Louisiana. They have photos, audio, and video to support their claims, the photos and stills from video are included in the paper.

Researchers claim to have sighted a bird not seen since 1944

The paper itself is linked in the second paragraph, photos are at the bottom.

Potentially very interesting indeed but I'm skeptical, all their photos are just as bad (or worse) than the historical photos. All of the photos came from camera traps/drone footage - they state that although they had a dozen direct and good observations, all of these lack photographic documentation. Also seems just too soon after being declared extinct by the USFWS, perfect timing for a rediscovery story. Not sure I'm convinced just yet.
Click to expand...

It's often puzzling to me why in this day and age people tracking supposedly extinct species use the poorest quality cameras known to man. Having said this, in one or two of the photos, the white saddle is definitely there...
I'm not really convinced per se but nor do I think the species is necessarily extinct.
 
amur leopard said:
It's often puzzling to me why in this day and age people tracking supposedly extinct species use the poorest quality cameras known to man.
Click to expand...

I've wondered the same thing, though I tend to suspect it hides hoaxes easier. I've seen better trailcam photos from the Amazon during a nocturnal rain shower than any of their Ivory-bill photos. (Not a metaphor either, I've participated in enough trailcam-based projects on Zooniverse to know that trailcams are well capable of far better quality than the ones in the paper, even at night.)
Equally how did none of the direct in person observations manage a photograph?! Wouldn't that be the best form of evidence possible and thus a priority to have on hand in the field? Yet somehow from a dozen observations not one photograph? I don't understand this scenario at all.

amur leopard said:
Having said this, in one or two of the photos, the white saddle is definitely there...
I'm not really convinced per se but nor do I think the species is necessarily extinct.
Click to expand...

Yeah most of the photos seem to portray Ivory-bills, but the horrible quality kinda puts a damper on the situation. Interested to see how the paper does in peer review and what ornithologists think.
 
The photos are better than I anticipated; I have a little hope that this may lead to acceptable evidence for survival (but we’re not there yet).
 
These are the most convincing images yet. The white saddle is clearly there, which would seem to rule out Pileated. Red-headed Woodpeckers also have a white saddle but these birds clearly have a crest. However, given the quality of the photos, either of these things could be a trick of the light or the angle, and I remain unconvinced.

Also, the fact that this was originally revealed on April 1 is suspicious.
 
This seems highly unlikely, and I was skeptical about the site that provided the info. I looked it up and there are many news groups covering the topic. I still doubt the validity of this, though hope is always a good thing. Despite there being a fair few species that have been rediscovered after a long period of time, an animal such as the ivory-billed woodpecker seems unlikely.
 
Bengal Tiger said:
This seems highly unlikely, and I was skeptical about the site that provided the info. I looked it up and there are many news groups covering the topic. I still doubt the validity of this, though hope is always a good thing. Despite there being a fair few species that have been rediscovered after a long period of time, an animal such as the ivory-billed woodpecker seems unlikely.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I'd say it is highly unlikely - the swamps of Louisiana aren't exactly the most densely-populated areas in the world, nor is a woodpecker the easiest animal to find. I think it is definitely possible that there are still Ivory bills out there, we just haven't seen any definitive proof of any kind. If a giant tortoise can pass under the radar for decades on a tiny island in the Galapagos, there is a distinct possibility in my mind that an elusive woodpecker in fairly inaccessible woodland could still be hanging on.
 
I was going to comment earlier but @Great Argus basically said what my opinion is already. I do agree with @amur leopard though that we shouldn't be instantly thinking this is extremely unlikely. Being sceptical is reasonable but it is also definitely reasonable to believe these birds still exist (though if they do, I imagine it is in extremely small numbers). Out of curiosity, has there been any searches for ivory-bills in Cuba? If I recall correctly the subspecies there was observed for a decent while past the last well-documented sightings in the US.
 
Mayki said:
I was going to comment earlier but @Great Argus basically said what my opinion is already. I do agree with @amur leopard though that we shouldn't be instantly thinking this is extremely unlikely. Being sceptical is reasonable but it is also definitely reasonable to believe these birds still exist (though if they do, I imagine it is in extremely small numbers). Out of curiosity, has there been any searches for ivory-bills in Cuba? If I recall correctly the subspecies there was observed for a decent while past the last well-documented sightings in the US.
Click to expand...
one cuba it was last sean in 1987. there is still some habitat yet to be serich. cuba is hard to cover tho duo to the remontes of the habitat the last unersely aceptet record one mainland was in 40s i think. but there are some convinsing reports after that
 
Mayki said:
Out of curiosity, has there been any searches for ivory-bills in Cuba? If I recall correctly the subspecies there was observed for a decent while past the last well-documented sightings in the US.
Click to expand...

I think there has been a few searches in Cuba, but due to the political climate and a lot of difficult to reach habitat not much has been done.
 
birdsandbats said:
Also, the fact that this was originally revealed on April 1 is suspicious.
Click to expand...
Where are you getting April 1 from? The article is dated April 14, and the pdf of the paper was posted April 8.

Bengal Tiger said:
I read what was available for non-subscribers.
Click to expand...
Did you read the actual paper which was linked in the article?
 
Chlidonias said:
Where are you getting April 1 from? The article is dated April 14, and the pdf of the paper was posted April 8.


Did you read the actual paper which was linked in the article?
Click to expand...
I did indeed, I read all of the articles I could find that I could look at for free.
 
I wanted to believe as much as anyone in 2005 that the ivory-billed woodpecker still lived. Nobody has found it in the last almost two decades since, despite intensive searching. At this point we are in thylacine-Bigfoot-Loch Ness Monster territory.
 
DavidBrown said:
I wanted to believe as much as anyone in 2005 that the ivory-billed woodpecker still lived. Nobody has found it in the last almost two decades since, despite intensive searching. At this point we are in thylacine-Bigfoot-Loch Ness Monster territory.
Click to expand...

I sadly agree. It’ll be interesting to get a better idea of exactly where these spots are, but given the amount of activity around the species and the relative fragmentation of the habitat, I just don’t see how detection would be so bad, especially given the detection probability of other woodpecker species. As well to survive decades after last sighting would require several generations of individuals reproducing and existing in complete secrecy and that seems highly unlikely, given that this is not as remote an area as some suggest. It will be interested to see the peer review process for this paper though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top