The Lord God Bird Lives

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The Lord God BirdLives!

• Gordon Maupin Ken Schelgels
• adventure on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker search
  team
• in the Big Woods of Arkansas

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Confidentiality Agreement

• Gordon and Ken couldnt comment about sightings
  until September.
• To protect the birds from zealous bird listers.
• To protect the integrity of the scientific
  process (bad form for the media to scoop the peer
  reviewed journals).

This is the first tell all public program.
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About the Lord God Bird

• Last confirmed sighting 1944 on the Singer Tract
  in Louisiana.
• Cuban Ivory-bills persisted to 1986, but recently
  DNA analysis indicates they are a separate
  species.
• Tantalizing, unconfirmed sightings in Texas (1966
  1968) and many in Louisiana.

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Characteristics

• Large size
• White on wings
• White bill
• Racing stripe
• Black chin
• Flight pattern

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Compared to Pileated WP
Ivory-billed
Pileated
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Ivory-billed Distribution
Probably never found in Ohio
Your friends and neighbors who say they have seen
one outside the south are mistaken.
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1880s Distribution
As the great swamp forests were cut, the
Ivory-bill disappeared.
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1930s Distribution
Never abundant, the Ivory-bill was pushed back to
the brink of extinction.
Sightings after World War II were mostly
dismissed. Most people felt they were extinct.
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The Singer Tract

• The last known sightings were in the Singer
  (Sewing Machines) Tract in Louisiana.
• Efforts to purchase the area with private
  donations as a National Park were rebuffed.
• It was the last of the great Cypress forests of
  the south.

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Rediscovered

• Big Woods of Arkansas 2004
• Choctawhatchee River in the Florida panhandle
  2005

The Ivory-bill LIVES!
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Gordon Ken in the Big Woods
Brinkely, Arkansas
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Haircuts
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Duck Hunting Lodge
Our home for two weeksRedhead Lodge
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Training Day
Binoculars Video Camera Still Camera GPS
Unit Backpack
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Learning GPS
An important skill!
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The Habitat

• Cypress -Tupelo Swamp Forest
• Bottomland Hardwoods Overcup Oak, Sweet Gum,
  Hickory, Swamp Locust, Green Ash, Red Maple,
  Willow Oak, Spanish Oak, Nuttalls Oak

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Cypress-Tupelo Forest
Primordial Cypress-Tupelo Forests had trees
nearly as big as the California Redwoods. 12-foot
diameter 200 feet high. These are small!
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Typical Day

• Up early some days VERY early.
• Drive to drop-off point.
• Follow GPS into the swamp.
• Move slowly in the swamp.
• Sit and watch.
• Find magic hour spot.
• Exit woods at dark.

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High density of Woodpeckers
Red-headed
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Finding tree Cavities
Red-bellied cavity?
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Possible Pileated Cavity
Size Beneath branch Ivory-billed would be bigger
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Possible IBW Cavity found at dusk in THE area
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Preparing Canoes for Bayou
A multi-team search day
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George Kennedy w/Flathead Catfish
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View in the Bayou
Does NOT facilitate photographing a shy woodpecker
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Pileated Woodpecker Scaling
Loose bark deep holes Pileated like Carpenter
Ants.
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Possible Ivory-bill scaling
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Classic Ivory-bill Scaling
Recently dead trees Tight bark Horizontal grooves
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Resurrection Ferns
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Volunteers gather atGenes BBQIvory-bill Burgers
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Mocked by Pileateds inThe Black Swamp
Thunk, Thunk, THUNK-THUNK
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High Density of Pileated Woodpeckers
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Pileated Woodpecker video
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Pileated in flight
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Barred Owl
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Our story
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The Bayou at Dawn
Put-in point
Bayou
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Early Glimpse
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The Habitat
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Maybe???
Put-in point
Bayou
?
¼ mile
Possible sighting by Gordon Ken
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Pileated Scaling
Then we stopped to photograph Pileated scaling
and work a pocket of habitat
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Then Ken called on the radio!

• Beaver lodge in habitat

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The tree
A hickory in hardwoods adjacent to cypress-tupelo
in the bayou.
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Location
?
Kens certain sighting
Put-in point
Bayou
?
Possible sighting by Gordon Ken
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Bobcat walks by during lunch
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The other teams sighting
?
Kens certain sighting
Put-in point
Bayou
?
¼ mile
?
Possible sighting by Gordon Ken
Sighting by Mel Sound by Ronnie
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Results 2006-07

• Not yet published.
• Expect Cornell to report seven (7) sightings or
  sound recordings.
• These are ONLY the sightings that meet narrowly
  defined criteria.
• There have been many other credible sightings.

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The Good News

• The Ivory-billed Woodpecker lives!
• Habitat is in the best condition in 100 years.
• People are aware the Ivory-bill lives.
• Local population realizes an Ivory-billed
  Woodpecker population will help the local
  economy. (Birders)
• Unprecedented 2nd Chance!

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The Bad News

• The greatest threat is NOT owls, raccoons,
  snakes, hawks, squirrels and flying squirrels.
• The greatest threat is money and politics.

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Resource Extraction on National Wildlife Refuges

• Logging stopped when Ivory-bills found.
• A scientific debate over the QUALITY of the proof
  is being spin-doctored into No Ivory-bills stop
  conservation efforts.
• Pork Barrel water pumping could alter habitat.
• Development planned for Florida site.

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What does it mean?

• Jobs or owls?
• Jobs or Woodpeckers?
• Endangered Species vs People?

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The clever straw manargument of liars.

• Witness the economic boon National Parks and
  Wildlife Refuges are to local economies wherever
  they are found.
• Consider the LONG-TERM economic benefit of these
  sacred places to the many.
• Contrast that to the short-term hit of a few.

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Saving an Endangered Species

• It is really saving Biodiversity.
• Saving Ivory-billed Woodpecker means
  saving/restoring the great swamp forests.
• Saving the forest saves EVERYTHING there!
• Consider the pond scum of Yellowstone National
  Park.

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My thoughts for skeptics

• Scientific skepticism is a good thing. (I am
  certainly a skeptic myself on things like UFOs,
  Bigfoot, and Alternative Medicine.
• Cornells standard for reporting a sighting is
  very high. Photo, video, two people seeing the
  bird at the same time. (Most searchers work
  alone90 of the time Ken and I were alone in the
  woods.)
• Many, many sightings do not reach this
  standardbut there has been many sightings!

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• Consider excellent birders you have known or
  consider your own birding skills.
• How difficult is it to distinguish a
  Red-shouldered Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk?
• These birds are more similar than Pileated and
  Ivory-billed.
• Chipping Sparrow House sparrow
• Red and White-breasted Nuthatches

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• Dozens of competent birders working the Big Woods
  claim to have seen Ivory-bills.
• The video is disputed by some. Their disputes
  say it does not rule out a Pileated Woodpecker
  NOT that it IS a Pileated Woodpecker.
• Sound recordings meet narrow IBW criteria
• Read about the evidence
• http//www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/evidence/

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Getting Photo/Video

• This will be nearly impossible!
• The fuzzy video was a near miracle.

Nomadic Require 6 square miles of habitat Narrow,
linear habitat Six square miles covers long
linear distances.
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Now try this

• Make at tube with one hand.
• On my command
• Push on your thumbnail
• Say the words boot up, 1, 2, 3
• Hold up your hand/tube site through it
• Look through the tube and find my hand
• Push on your thumbnail again and say zoom 1, 2,
  3.

I really should have had you first find my hand
with binoculars.
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Advice for Skeptics

• Stick to scientific journals
• The anti-conservation groups are already
  twisting/spinning skeptical comments to stop
  conservation.
• It is fine to push for more definitive proof.
• But dont assume the lack of definitive proof
  means a lack of birds.

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Faith-based Birding?

• Name calling does no good.
• Create NO excuse to destroy habitat.
• Restoration of a great swamp forest benefits
• Wildlife
• water quality
• Biodiversity
• flood control
• regardless of the IBWs status.

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Scientific Responsibility

• Ornithologists must consider our media-based
  society.
• Scientists MUST understand the media world of
  lies, spin, distortions, and talking points.
• When will honest scientific skepticism become the
  talking points of liars like Fox News, Rush
  Limbach and Ann Coulter?

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Remember it is good news

• The Ivory-billed Woodpecker lives.
• The habitat is in improving condition.
• The local population supports conservation.
• We have chance to save a magnificent species and
  an incredible ecosystem.

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Delusions of Grandeur
John James Audubon
Ken Schlegel
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The Ivory-bill Dance!
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Thanks! Questions?
www.wildernesscenter.org