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 schaustj@wbu.com

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.

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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.”

- John James Audubon

Mark Catesby 1683-1749

Campephilus principalis

Mark Catesby 1683-1749

Campephilus principalis

• Arrived from England in 1712

• “bill white as Ivory”

• Painting and description – 1731

• Linnaeus used his work to name

Alexander Wilson 1766 - 1813

American Ornithology, 1808-14

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Alexander Wilson 1766 - 1813

American Ornithology, 1808-14

• Fled from Scotland – 1794

• Thomas Jefferson – 1803

• Meriwether Lewis

• Wilmington, NC

• Nine volumes – 1808-1813

• Died in 1813

Alexander Wilson 1766 - 1813

American Ornithology, 1808-14

“The Lord God bird”

“A majestic and formidable

species that might impress upon

the mind of the examiner the

most reverential ideas of the

Creator.”

John James Audubon 1785-1851 John James Audubon 1785-1851

• Favorite Bird

• Collected in 1820

• IBWO Declining

― I wish, kind reader, it were in my power to present to your mind's eye the favourite resort of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker…‖

Forests prior to European

settlement — and the original range of the Ivory-billed

Woodpecker.

24 Million Acres

20 million acres lost in 200 years

•Civil War 1861-65

•Chicago Fire 1871

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Bird Collectors

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.

Camp Ephilus - 1935

Arthur Allen

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James T. Tanner

Louisiana Singer Tract

1937 - 1939

Tanner searches

the South for the

Ivory-billed:

•45 Sites

• 48,000 Miles

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J. J. Kuhn and Sonny Boy

Band # 365-27264

Singer Tract 1939

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•1926 – McIllhenny – 10 year lease for LDOC

•1936 - Arthur Allen consults Aldo Leopold

•1938 - Logging begins

•1939 - 13 IBWO’s in Singer Tract (22-24 total)

•1941 – Tanner finds 6 left

•1942 - Roger Tory Peterson sees 2

•1944 - Last IBWO sighted by Don Eckelberry

The Loss of the Singer Tract

“I am the world

expert on an

extinct bird.”- James T. Tanner

Biology of the IBWO

Biology of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers

•Nomadic, following food resources

•One pair per six square miles

•Diet of beetle larvae, seeds, and fruits

•Often seen foraging in groups

•Monogamous in mating

•Cavity nesting birds (4”x 5”)

•Clutch Size: 1-6 eggs, averaging 3 eggs

•Life Span Estimate: 10–15 Years

Persimmons

Magnolia PodBeetle Larvae

Hickory

Sugarberry

•20‖ tall, 30‖ wingspan

•White on top and bottom of wings

•Large, triangular white ―saddle‖ on perched bird

•Red crest on males, black crest on females

•Chisel-like, ivory bill

•Bright yellow eyes

•White stripes on cheeks, down neck, onto back

•No white under chin

IBWO Description

Ivory-billed Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker

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PileatedWoodpecker

Ivory-billedWoodpecker

IBWO vs. Pileated

Above

Above

Below

Below

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E. A. McIlhenny

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

The Search for Proof

Search Strategy• March 2004 – Present

• Systematic search for and

monitoring of potential roost

cavities

• Use of sound recording units

• Use of motion sensor cameras

on scaled trees

• Many hours of stationary and

mobile searching for the Ivory-

billed Woodpecker

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Bobby R. Harrison

Secondary evidence: ScalingPaul Sikes - USGS

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The Search Expands

Choctawhatchee River – February 2007

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“I just seen that Lordy God bird this mornin”

•Population Surveys and Monitoring

•Habitat Inventory and Monitoring

•Population/Habitat Models

•Assumption Driven Research

•Landscape Assessment

•Conservation Design

•Education and Outreach

•Public Use and Access

•Management of Rediscovered Population

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Corridor of Hope Team

Ivory-billed Woodpecker Rediscovery Celebration

February 23-25 at Convention Center

in

Brinkley, Arkansas

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