New Claim for Evidence of Ivory Bills

[zonkers]

Once again, scientists report they have found evidence of ivory-billed woodpeckers, this time in Florida. But having observed the turbulent disputes among ornithologists and birders that followed the report last year that the bird had been found in Arkansas, these researchers are proceeding with caution.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/26/science/26bird.html?ref=science


(I don't think this considered an off topic news story, whatever that means)

[clydefrand]

1. Thanks for this. I'd love to see one! I'd also like to see

a Red-headed woodpecker. Have been wanting to see one for 60 years. Maybe this year.

[zonkers]

2. It says they have audio recordings and some video. Hope these woodpeckers

are happy with all the hoopla they have caused us. They are no doubt the holy grail of extinct/not extinct species. Mythical at this point.

[Lexingtonian]

14. personally,

I hope the Carolina parakeet has survived somewhere. It was supposedly a very funny and obnoxiously selfconfident bird.

The last report of them is the sighting of a small flock near iirc Lakeland, Florida, in 1929.

[ozone_man]

4. I saw a red headed woodpecker in NY once.

It was pretty startling to see that entirely read head. Let's hope the ivory bill sighting is real. We don't make it easy for them.

[pitohui]

13. red heads are quite common in my area

when i first moved into my house they used to peck on it until they figured it out that it had been renovated and no longer had those nice crunchy termites

i have often watched them come and go from a nest just sitting right here and looking out my window, my pair usually uses a telephone pole oddly enough

[Jamastiene]

10. There are tons of red headed woodpeckers where I live.

It's the red cockaded woodpecker that is a rare treat to see. I have only seen one red cockaded woodpecker and that was about 8 years ago. Hopefully with the older dead growth in the jungle behind my house, they'll take up residence and I can get it declared a nature conservancy. I'd love to be able to take the time to look at the woods through binoculars at the new place where I live now. I sure spent countless hours looking out with binoculars at the old place.

[spinbaby]

18. We see red-headed woodpeckers all the time

Western PA. They come to the suet blocks we put out.

[flyingfysh]

3. I have several

but my bills always come on paper. None of the people I owe money to have started sending bills on ivory yet.
:spank:

[MGD]

5. Awsome, I hope it's true.

I've actually seen quite a few red-headed woodpeckers in the past. They make a hell of a racket which is very distinguishing. I'll bet this ivory billed woodpecker could be heard a mile away if it's bigger than a red-headed woodpecker. The Everglades wood be the ideal place for a few to hold out too.

[zonkers]

7. But now sick NC landowners are rushing to deforest their land so no wood-

peckers will nest. They don't want their land be declared a protected area. There's a thread in environment forum about it....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x68280

[arewenotdemo]

6. I like that last line

“The mistake,” he (Hill) added dryly, “was ever looking for them.”

That says a lot, and I certainly hope the naysayers, including Sibley, will one day dine on crow.

[Ediacara]

8. And in other news...

Rare Woodpecker Sends a Town Running for Its Chain Saws

Article Tools Sponsored By
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 24, 2006

BOILING SPRING LAKES, N.C., Sept. 23 (AP) — Over the past six months, landowners here have been clear-cutting thousands of trees to keep them from becoming homes for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

The chain saws started in February, when the federal Fish and Wildlife Service put Boiling Spring Lakes on notice that rapid development threatened to squeeze out the woodpecker.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/us/24woodpecker.html

[arewenotdemo]

11. This quote defines "Repuke":

Bonner Stiller has been holding on to two wooded half-acre lakefront lots for 23 years. He stripped both lots of longleaf pines before the government could issue its new map.

“They have finally developed a value,” said Mr. Stiller, a Republican member of the state General Assembly. “And then to have that taken away from you?”

[pitohui]

12. i don't understand the reason for this, we have these birds

there are red-cockaded woodpeckers in our parish and i never heard of anyone who wanted to stop them from coming on their land or in their trees, indeed it is boasted of, although i am somewhat of a doubter as the only ones i have personally seen have actually been on the refuge where special trees are provided for them

never heard of anyone's land being taken away for the red cockaded woodpeckers, but they are monitored as they should be as an endangered species

[The Stranger]

19. Holy mindfuck. They're chopping down the forest to ensure no woodpeckers,

which are endangered, can nest there. I'm trying to find the words . . .

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. Cool, I hope these sightings pan out

[Midniteagle]

15. They are here ....

I live in Dixie County, Fl. There are many woodpeckers here in rural Fl. I believe I saw one (Ivory-Billed) last March, on our property. We have 2 acres here, about 25 miles east of the Gulf of Mexico, my mother says there are 4 of them that arrive in the late fall, and stay thru the winter. I will try to snap some pics to verify her claim.....I know she is telling the truth, she has a very large bird population here that she has been feeding for 20 years, and she knows them all from her books.

[DoYouEverWonder]

17. I'm not that far from there

I'm over in Gainesville. From what I hear there is literally a 'big' difference between the Ivory Bill and other woodpeckers. That's so cool to hear about more sightings.

BTW: Welcome to DU :hi:

[semillama]

16. May I point you to my post in the Birders group on this?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=294&topic_id=1324&mesg_id=1324

Basically, no images, but evidence for some type of woodpecker that doesn't appear to be behaving like a Pileated Woodpecker, plus 14 sightings of Ivory-Bills, including one that was described as an excellent view through binoculars. Where were their cameras, I ask???