Thanks for sharing Bill.
I spent 10 field days in Arkansas during the "craze", none of which I regret of course. And Jerome Jackson has indeed studied the Ivory-bill as much as anyone still alive today, but I wonder what "science" would say of his undocumented sighting(s) in Cuba, or his encounter in MS where he stays just shy of saying he heard one. The truth is, those encounters are no more or less credible than Fitz or Fishcrow for that matter.
The saga of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker may or may not be over. Of course, I know (personally in some cases) some pretty respected folks who make a strong argument against Ivory-billed woodpeckers' continued existence, and particularly against Luneau's video. What if we accepted the fact that Luneau's video is of a Pileated Woodpecker? That doesn't mean that Fitzpatrick, Hill, etc didn't see one. No doubt, mistakes were made (at least with regard to publicity) and language of "confirmation" is subjective at best.
Have others on this list seen the Auburn team's Florida video of a bird they claim to be an Ivory-billed? I have never really understood why that footage did not garner more attention. While very brief, it certainly was clearer than the video from Arkansas, and in my opinion, more compelling. It's available online - takes FOREVER to download, but is pretty interesting.
I'm not here to argue that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker lives. Did some benefit from the short-lived phenomenon? Sure they did, but why not? Like others, I too enjoyed Gene's, meeting others and even spending a Thanksgiving dinner on a log along the White River eating bad beef jerky freezing my rear end off. I'd only like to remind people that Jerome Jackson's own motivations, expertise and reputation should not go un-questioned.
Greg Links
Somewhere Near Toledo
--- [log in to unmask] wrote:
From: Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [Ohio-birds] Ivory-bills and dollar bills
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 09:04:54 -0400
Have a look at Jerome Jackson's article at
http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1000459#pbio-1000459-g002
if you can stand a look backward at the ivory-billed woodpecker
kerfuffle of a few years back. Lots of links to other articles, too.
Interesting to see how some took advantage of birders' or
conservationists' zeal to promote themselves or their organizations.
Bill Whan
Columbus
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