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Posted by Larry Manfredi on 07:56:57 01/07/09
In Reply to: Serious Question about Ivory-billed Woodpecker posted by Toe
You can read my report from my failed search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker at the link. This was from the Florida panhandle where Auburn University said they had seen some. The area is beautiful and has some nice mature forest, it is surrounded by thousands of acres of forest. Not all of the trees are as mature as those in the Choctawhatchee River area. The area is pretty wild with not too many people which is nice.
I did not see many woodpeckers and did not see or hear any Ivory-billed Woodpeckers that we had hoped for.
The recordings that the Auburn University team have, can't be positively identified as Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. There are many other things in the forest that make similar noises. The video that they got tells you absolutely nothing. You can't tell what is in the video, it does look like a bird though.
If there still are birds out there, then the population is real, real low. I kind of feel that the bird is long gone. I think that collecting (killing) for museums etc. lead to their extinction more so than habitat loss.
We were sure hoping to video tape or photograph birds during our search. I carried a digital camera and telephoto lens, as well as my video camera at all times. The strap on my video camera became very worn during my search, it was always in my hand.
A half decent photo or a half decent video is the only way that I will believe that the birds still exist. As a photographer, I know that it should not be too hard. I think that one of the problems with those that have searched in Florida and else where is, that they are birders not photographers!
Cornell is going to search the "Virgin" mangrove forest in the Everglades this winter. The may have already started. The trees in the area are supposed to be up to a hundred feet tall which is pretty amazing!
That is my two cents worth on the subject. And yes many, many years ago, Ivory-billed Woodpeckers occurred in Miami-Dade County. They also occurred just about everywhere else in the state.
Larry Manfredi
Homestead FL
E-mail: birderlm@bellsouth.net
http://www.southfloridabirding.com
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