In April, scientists reported that the ivory-billed woodpecker, thought to be extinct for decades, is alive and well in the Big Woods of Arkansas. (Previous post here. Official ivory-billed woodpecker site here.) Now, three biologists are saying that the team who reported evidence of the bird may have jumped the gun. The paper questioning the claim is expected to be published by a peer-reviewed journal in the next few weeks. Apparently, the authors of the new paper, written by scientists from Yale, the University of Kansas, and Florida Gulf Coast University, claim that a four-second grainy videotape purported to show the rare bird may not depict the ivory-billed woodpecker after all. A rebuttal by the original research team led by Cornell and the Nature Conservancy is also slated for publication, along with a rebuttal to their rebuttal. From the New York Times:
Everyone agrees that the bird that appears on the tape is either an ivory-billed woodpecker or a pileated woodpecker, a slightly smaller bird that is relatively common. Both species have a mix of white and black plumage. However, the ivory-billed woodpecker has a white trailing edge to its wings while the pileated woodpecker has a black trailing edge.The team that conducted the original search for the bird ran extensive tests, including recreating the scene captured in video using flapping, hand-held models of the two types of woodpecker. They concluded that the plumage patterns seen in the grainy image could only be that of the ivory-billed woodpecker.
The authors of the new paper disagree.
Only extended scientific discussion – or new pictures of the bird from additional searches – will determine whose view will prevail. Another intensive scientific search of the region is scheduled to begin in November, Cornell officials said.
“The people who originally announced this thoroughly believe they got an ivory-billed woodpecker,” (Yale ornithologist Mark) Robbins said in an interview…
John W. Fitzpatrick, the co-leader of the search for the bird and director of the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology, said it was normal for scientists to disagree about evidence of this sort, especially because in this case the video in question was “pretty crummy.”
But he said that extensive analysis was done and redone to eliminate the possibility that the bird was a pileated woodpecker.
Link (Thanks, Loren Coleman!)