Ivory-billed Woodpecker Rediscovered

The announcement on April 28, 2005 of the rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is so profound that it ranks as one of the great scientific discoveries of recent time. Relevant information can be found at www.ivorybill.org. Here is one bit of critical information I received - a message from one of the scientists regarding what can be done to help: Try to convince your local birding community to avoid flooding into the Cache River NWR to see the bird. This would be a threat to the Ivorybill's survival. Since it has suffered over the centuries because of us, it is time to give back what we had taken away. It is unknown if the Ivory-billed Woodpecker can once again roam old-growth forests of the southeast without the threat of extinction. Let's search other areas. Let's give it a chance. One option for interested parties would be to search in previously "written-off" areas of the southeast because it seems likely that more than one bird still exists. It is now critical to obtain data on further individuals and corresponding areas so that conservation can take place. Deep swamps in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas should now be exhaustively searched. If the bird was undetected for 60 years, it could turn up almost anywhere in it's former range. The key to finding it will be to enter the most remote, secluded areas that wouldn't normally be searched by a passer-by. Considering how wary and secretive the Ivorybill has been, extreme patience and time will be required. Chris Geraghty April 2005

A trip back in time: Searching for the Ivorybill in Cuba Click Here

The Ivorybill Mystery...                               This page was updated in June 2003. Since this site was created in 2001 there have been numerous developments in the persuit of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Many people have continued researching and studying in different parts of the country and abroad. There are some people who believe the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is still present in remote and inaccessible areas of which there are a few dozen locals left in the southern United States. There are some who will remain undecided until there is proof or until time passes us by. There are pessimists who believe the last credible sighting was in 1944 in the U.S. (1987 in Cuba), thinking the bird is gone forever.

In my view the possibility remains that a few birds may exist in the most desolate regions of the southeast or in Cuba. It is only a possibility and not a probability. The sole reason I draw this conclusion is the nature of the environment: swampy, sultry, muggy, mosquito-infested (U.S.), impenetrable and dangerous. Areas where only a canoe will get you deeper in. Areas where you may encounter quicksand or poisenous snakes or wild boars (U.S. only - Cuba has it's own challenges). Areas that may completly disorient even the most experienced field naturalist. Birders have frequented and continue to frequent such areas but not to the degree necessary for finding an Ivorybill if one were present. Staying on the trails will not lead to an Ivorybill. If they are present it is probably as far from human civilization as possible. In Cuba there are a few areas so remote that not even a single person has ever explored them.

Cautious opitimism may stem from recent reports of Ivory-billed Woodpecker sightings in an unamed area from credible sources. This generally vague statement is exactly that because no addition details are being provided by the parties involved, possibly with good reason. If a remaining population was discovered there is the strong possibilty that authorities would keep in undercover so as to avoid an influx of people. This makes sense to me, even though it is difficult for an enthusiast to imagine that Ivorybills could exist somewhere and we won't know about it. The area in question seems to have been searched only a few times ever, leading me to believe that anything is possible. The traditional primeval habitat required by the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is not conducive to repeated lenghty searches. I will give it another try in 2003 and I am in contact with 2 separate parties who are going to be exploring different areas as well. Updates to come.

Click here for page 2

Author's email: miami15@hotmail.com