The Hunt for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker DATE AND TIME Thursday, 25 February 2010 / 815AM-945AM SPEAKER(S) John Schaust Chief Naturalist Wild Birds Unlimited, Inc. 11711 North College Ave, Suite 146 Carmel, IN 46032 [email protected]SESSION DESCRIPTION Follow one of history’s mysteries in the pursuit of the Lord-God Bird. John Schaust, Chief Naturalist for Wild Birds Unlimited, will give us the background and updates on this “ghost bird,” the status of this species, and the hopes for the future. SESSION LEARNING OBJECTIVES • Understand the importance of keystone species in environment and sustainability as they relate to parks, recreation and public lands management agencies • Describe the natural history of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, the current status of this species what we can learn from past resource management decisions that can help us to better manage similar species today.
21
Embed
The Hunt for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Hunt for... · 2011-06-23 · The Hunt for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker DATE AND TIME Thursday, 25 February 2010 / 815AM-945AM . SPEAKER(S)
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
The Hunt for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker DATE AND TIME Thursday, 25 February 2010 / 815AM-945AM SPEAKER(S) John Schaust
Chief Naturalist Wild Birds Unlimited, Inc. 11711 North College Ave, Suite 146 Carmel, IN 46032 [email protected]
SESSION DESCRIPTION Follow one of history’s mysteries in the pursuit of the Lord-God Bird. John Schaust, Chief Naturalist for Wild Birds Unlimited, will give us the background and updates on this “ghost bird,” the status of this species, and the hopes for the future. SESSION LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Understand the importance of keystone species in environment and sustainability as they relate to parks, recreation and public lands management agencies
• Describe the natural history of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, the current status of this species what we can learn from past resource management decisions that can help us to better manage similar species today.
1
The Hunt
for the
Ivory-billed
Woodpecker
“When the last individual of a race of living things
breathes no more,
another heaven and another earth must pass before
such a one can be again.”
William Beebe, Ornithologist
Ivory-billed Woodpecker - Historic Range“Not a common bird…but one that was commonly seen.”
Over 400 IBWO specimens collected from 1880 to 1910
• Prominent Ornithologist, Museums, Taxidermist and Private Collectors
• “Now is the time to collect!” - William T. Hornaday, Chief Taxidermist – National Museum (Smithsonian)
• A.T. Wayne – 1892-94 Florida – 44 IBWO collected
Bird Collectors
Over 400 IBWO specimens collected from 1880 to 1910
• William Brewster – scientist collector – bought 61 IBWO – largest collection of IBWO in world – willed to Harvard University
• Frank Chapman – Curator, American Museum of Natural History
“Good resolutions, like many other things, are much easier to plan than practice.”
1885 range of theIvory-billed Woodpecker
1930 range of theIvory-billed Woodpecker
Singer TractMason Spencer 1932
Arthur Allen 1924
1935 Arthur A. Allen, Peter Paul Kellogg, George M. Sutton, James Tanner, Mason Spencer and J.J. Kuhn haul optical film and recording equipment into the Singer Tract by mule to monitor Ivory-billed Woodpeckers.
According to legend, Edmund McIlhenny encountered a Mexican-American Warveteran on the streets of antebellum New Orleans. The ex-soldier, named FriendGleason, gave McIlhenny a few pepper pods collected during his recent travels inMexico. McIlhenny liked the peppers so much that he planted a few of them onhis plantation at Avery Island, Louisiana, and using their offspring he concocted afiery pepper sauce that he called "Tabasco." McIlhenny placed his first 350 bottlesof sauce on the market in 1868
1971George Lowery
1966John Dennis
Last Photo – Cuba 1948
Florida - 1950
Texas Recording - 1966
LSU Museum of Natural
Science
Fielding Lewis
Bobby and Tim
Feb. 11,
2004
L
Gene Sparlingon Cache River NWR
February 11, 2004Bobby R. Harrison Tim Gallagher
February 27, 2004
9
10
IBWO Sightings 2004
1. February 11, 2004: Gene Sparling sees and reports IBWO
2. February 27, 2004: Tim Gallagher, Bobby Harrison return
with Gene and see IBWO
3. April 5 - April 11, 2004: 3+ credible
reports
4. April 25, 2004 David Luneau video
5. June 9, 2004: Bobby Harrison
sighting Field Notes of Gallagher and
Harrison after Ivorybill sightings
David LuneauApril 25, 2004
11
Auditory Evidence•IBWO vocalizations and drumming are important cues
•ARUs (Autonomous Recording Units): at any given time about 20 ARUs were deployed in the area
•Over 18,000 total hours of recordings analyzed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
•54 ARU recordings of double-raps identified
ScienceJune 3, 2005 vol. 218, no.44
April 28, 2005
More than 60 years after the last confirmed sighting of the species in the United States, a research team announced that at least one Ivory-billed Woodpecker still survives in the bottomland hardwood forests of Arkansas.
The bird heard ‗round the world
459 Newspapers
174 Television Stations
43 Radio Shows
Gene Sparling Bobby Harrison Tim Gallagher
12
Published by AAAS
D. A. Sibley et al., Science 311, 1555a (2006)
Fig. 1. (A) Frame 33.3 from (1), in which it is proposed that the black and white object to the left of the tree trunk is an ivory-billed woodpecker positioned as illustrated in the inset sketch
Published by AAAS
D. A. Sibley et al., Science 311, 1555a (2006)
Fig. 2. (A) and (C) show video frames (apparently frames 700 and 1000, although this is not stated) and interpretive sketches from Fig
Published by AAAS
D. A. Sibley et al., Science 311, 1555a (2006)
Fig. 3. Video frames on left, with interpretive sketches by DCornell Lab - Analysis of the Luneau video
13
Size of the bird:
Allen 1935 film frames
measurements of wrist – tailtip distancesMeasurements of wrist – tailtip distances
Measurements of wrist – tailtip distance Amount of white on wing of perched bird
Wing pattern in flight
• Extensive white patches on the both sides of the wing
• All white secondary feathers and innermost primary flight feathers are white
White plumage on back between wings
14
John W. Fitzpatrick,
Director
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Published by AAAS
J. W. Fitzpatrick et al., Science 311, 1555b (2006)
Fig. 1. Luneau video field 33.3 (A) shows the first major appearance of the woodpecker's right wing to the left of the tupelo trunk
Published by AAAS
J. W. Fitzpatrick et al., Science 311, 1555b (2006)
Fig. 2. Effects of video artifacts on wing patterns of pileated woodpecker and ivory-billed woodpecker
Evidence Summary1. Size of bird corresponds to IBWO
2. Wing pattern at rest
3. Wing pattern in flight
4. White plumage on the back between wings
5. Black-and-white pattern of perched bird
6. Wing beats per second – Pileated max is 7.0 per second – tape shows 8.7 per second.