Conservation of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker

Very interesting!

 

Can you explain this "ego" to me? I really don't understand what you are getting at here.

 

An new upcoming episode of Extinct or Alive with Forrest Galante will focus on this bird.

 

I know this thread is a few months old now, but what are everyone's thoughts on the Ivory-bill? L'm skeptical, but I think it's more likely than many of the extinct species people search for.

@Michael Collins Any reason you haven't tried to bring other birders where you think you saw the Ivory-bills?

 

I'm doubtful at this point, but I agree it's one of most likely to be refound possibly extinct species. The overlap with the similar Pileated makes positive ID difficult without photos/video. Wishful thinking can do surprising things when presented with a similar species, especially with poor looks.

 

I dont know very much about the species that occured (and that is hopefully still extant) in the USA but from the little I know and have read about the subspecies there may still be some remaining "carpintero real" somewhere in the Cuban Sierra Maestra.

Given the socio-political difficulties of field research in Cuba and the consequent wide gaps in knowledge it wouldn't suprise me at all if there are still some of these birds out there.

 

Unfortunately, thanks to government US no possibility to follow through as all contacts to Cuba official and private effectively stopped.

 

Agreed and very frustrating especially given how things were begining to thaw and improve on that front, however, I know things are at least improving in terms of European nations conducting research into Cuban species.

ZSL seem to have been doing a fair a bit of work recently with some of the EDGE species in Cuba so this could be a good sign pointing to future collaborations to document the true picture of Cuban biodiversity which might include some pleasant suprises like extant ivory billed woodpeckers , who knows?

 

Here’s a video from Animal planet’s Exticnt or Alive on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and what it seems to be footage of it’s wings.

 

While interesting, it's not particularly convincing. I would guess it's a crow.

 

I agree, a crow or maybe even Pileated Woodpecker, with an odd lighting angle.

Also wondering why he called grackles blackbirds. I mean, they are, but why would a reputed birder call them that?

 

It carries the trade mark Animal Planet, hence it is a far lesser standard than say David Attenborough's Life on Earth. I would not use AP as a good source as to my mind too much infotainment (over matter).

 

It had white markings underneath the feathers so that rules out crow so either Pileated or Ivory-billed.

 

Those "white markings" could easily be light coming in from in between the feathers. They don't seem to fit Pileated or Ivory-billed.

 

The leading edge of the underwing of Pileated Woodpecker has a large amount of white. In the video the sun(?) highlights a 'line' of light/dark but look closely and the area of white is more extensive than that. I think a front-on attack by a Pileated woodpecker, and so showing the front of the underwing, is the most likely explanation. It would be unlikely to respect the specific orientation of the dummy either, as the two species are so similar-looking.

 

With all this discussion, I'm wondering why they didn't use a second trail cam near the dummy that focused on getting a more wide angle view of the situation. The one on the dummy was tiny and pretty limited, why didn't they provide a second and better look for themselves?

 

To make it more convincing.

 

But also much sketchier and inconclusive so that people will actually watch it I guess...

 

Also, a camera in the exact size and shape of an Ivory-bill has a lot of potential to troll birders accidentally.