Disputed woodpecker halts project

[TX-RAT]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060720/ap_on_sc/ivory_billed_woodpecker



OK i have a problem with the may or may not part of this story, just because a guy on a kayak claims he saw one?

[CottonBear]

1. If it exists, (I believe it does) should the USACE be allowed to destroy

its habitat?

I say NO.

[nam78_two]

6. Agreed but could this be the "spotted owl" of our times?

People are showing a renewed interest in caring for our environment and the non-human creatures that share it with us.
Once all this war and mayhem is over (it has to be..soon...it just HAS TO STOP...we can't go on like this :( -the optimist in me says it will stop soon-you know how things sometimes get RWALLY bad before they become much better-this has to be that right? How much worse can things get?)
....but anyway my point was, once all this egregious war nonsense stop and we turn back to environmental issues etc., the Repukes are gonna have to start their rubbish about free markets being strangled by those nasty environmentalists blah blah...and then this bird will be the spotted owl of our times I predict.

[CottonBear]

10. That is a strawman argument. I'm not going there. n/t

[nam78_two]

15. You misunderstand me

I was not implying in any way that we shouldn't be saving this incredible bird.
(I am an avid birder actually and was very excited when the IBW was found last summer).

I was merely speculating about the possibility of this becoming turned into something of that sort....
Having been inside the environmental movement for about 10 years now, I can predict how some of the most anti-environmental lobbies on the right think and behave.

[CottonBear]

18. The Ivory Bill ecosystem only exists in that one area of AK. That's all

that is left. We have no choice but to protect and preserve this rare forest ecosystem, not only for the Ivory Bill, but for the other plant and animal species that exist there and no where else on the planet.

I'm proud to be an environmentalist and a progressive Democrat! :)

[nam78_two]

19. high fives then :)

>>I'm proud to be an environmentalist and a progressive Democrat!

Me too :toast:!

[CottonBear]

20. Cool! Oh! I forgot: welcome to DU!

:hi: I love this place. I hope you'll enjoy DU! We are a passionate and outspoken bunch!

[nam78_two]

21. thanks :) / nt

[ProdigalJunkMail]

2. not that there is any point to this post

but for some reason I read this as "Disgusted Woodpecker Halts Project" and just had to come here and see what it was about...

sP

[nam78_two]

3. This was a big story last summer

It wasn't just a guy on a kayak seeing it TX-RAT. Among birders and naturalists (like myself :)) this was a big story and the
team that researched it is fairly capable and had quite a bit of expertise.

There has been a lot of dispute about the findings but seriously, if this species can be saved we should really try to.
I remember looking at pictures of it in my natural history books and feeling very sad when I would reflect that it went extinct due to habitat loss. It is a magnificent creature!

Theres quite a bit if info. about the project etc. in many of these places:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/

http://www.ivorybill.org/

http://www.nature.org/ivorybill/


Personally I am 100% a pecker head so I can see a point to this (others may disagree of course).
I have often dreamt of being actually able to see one someday :-/...gorgeous, gorgeous bird....
(Any birders on here incidentally?)

[TX-RAT]

11. It wasn't just a guy on a kayak seeing it TX-RAT

According to the link that's all it was, no other sightings but his claim.

[danimich1]

13. With the millions we're spending every single day killing in Iraq,

can't we spend a bit to save this incredible bird? I will be birding again once my daughters are a bit older and I have time to (I was a wild bird rehabber for quite a long time before children.) I had many pileated woodpeckers on my property in Indiana, and was able to care for a couple in the past. What wonderful creatures!

[nam78_two]

17. I saw a whole family of Pileateds in NC last month :)

Amazing creatures. I always think one way to get people to care more about what we stand the risk of losing, is by just taking them outside and showing em whats at stake.

[pitohui]

23. there hasn't been any real dispute

the one so-called woodpecker "authority" who disputes it has a personal problem w. not being one of the several dozen people involved in the secret search for elvis and he has allowed his bitterness to overtake his good judgement -- there is some personal history between him and the other ornithologists that has apparently led to this dispute, there is no scientific grounds for his disputatiousness (is that a word?)

i won't name names but i bet you know who i am talking abt

[nam78_two]

25. yup!

Heh yeah...I do know what you are talking about.

(Are you one of the original team by any chance? I saw your post about the video.
Thats awesome if you are! :yourock: :headbang:

Well awesome even if you aren't because I see we have very similar views on the subject.
I never really bought the whole "its disputed" thing but throw it in anyway so I wouldn't get flamed
for not mentioning that part!)

[deaniac21]

4. I've never known a kayaker that didn't carry a bong!

[AlienGirl]

7. I've never known an ornithologist that did

[deaniac21]

9. Gene Sparling, whom I know very well, is the guy.

:smoke:

[The Stranger]

5. There was documented proof they found one of these woodpeckers.

Besides, this is a Progressive web site, where we give the benefit of the doubt to the environment.

[xchrom]

8. indeed there was - and that bird is a national treasure.

[TX-RAT]

12. Last official and confirmed sighting was 1944

[The Stranger]

14. Were there seventeen kayakers, and did they go to Cornell?

A group of seventeen authors headed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology reported the discovery of at least one Ivory-billed Woodpecker, a male, in the Big Woods area of Arkansas in 2004 and 2005, publishing the report in the journal Science on April 28 2005.

. . . .

In June 2005, ornithologists at Yale University, the University of Kansas, and Florida Gulf Coast University submitted a scientific article skeptical of the initial reports of rediscovery. However, after reviewing new sound recordings from the White River of Arkansas supplied to them by the Cornell team that reported the rediscovery, they announced in August 2005 that they had concluded that the bird has indeed been rediscovered and withdrew their paper. Yale ornithologist Richard Prum stated:

"We were very skeptical of the first published reports, and thought that the previous data were not sufficient to support this startling conclusion. But the thrilling new sound recordings provide clear and convincing evidence that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is not extinct."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory-billed_Woodpecker

[nam78_two]

16. yup thats the team

The story was all over the NYT, WaPo etc. last year.

[pitohui]

24. that is not true, TX-RAT

sorry we have a videotape

[pitohui]

22. the story is deliberately untrue

it is not one guy on a kayak, it is several times by trained observers (ornithologists and birders) including a videotape of the woodpecker which has been released to the public

clearly they want the "pork" from this army corp of engineers B.S. project so they choose to lie but the lie is easily checked and disproven

"one guy" in a kayak (hundreds of one guys) have reported seeing the birds for years and have been ignored until scientists finally encountered them again

if the army corp of engineers is so bored they do have any number of levees and floodwalls in louisiana they could get off their asses and fix