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there have not been any conformed sightings of
ivory-billed woodpeckers in the past ten years,
at least (i am being very conservative).
ornithologists consider them to be extinct.

--
                   Deborah Wisti-Peterson, BS
      nyneve@u.washington.edu or wisti@zoology.washington.edu
University of Washington; Dept. of Zoology; Box 351800; Seattle, Wa
=-=-=-=-Grad School: it's not just a job, it's an indenture!=-=-=-

SharonKov (sharonkov@aol.com) wrote:
: Are there ANY Ivory billed woodpeckers left?  Are they finally extinct?
: Does anyone have ANY information or experiences with these birds?  I would
: love to hear them!  Thanks!

: Sharon

Once when I was a teenager and at LSU for some high school competition, I
wandered into some natural sciences building (this was 20 years ago) and
looked around.  Some guy (wish I remembered who) asked what I was doing
there.  When he saw how interested I was in natural history he brought
me into a large room.  He first showed me a safe, said he'd forgotten
his key, but that it had several animals (mammals?) which had been
collected in South America but were not identified yet.  One was
possibly a new, previously undiscovered species.

We then turned around and I saw many file cabinets with flat drawers.
These, he told me, were filled with bird specimens.  He asked me what
would I like to see.  Off the top of my head, I said ivory-billed
woodpecker.  He said sure and opened a drawer with several of them
inside.  One was collected in the 1890's and two were collected in
the 1930's.  After asking if I could touch one, I picked one up and
examined it closely.  I was late for an appointment, so I then
carefully put the bird back.  I told him I would have to come back
soon to see more and talk some.  For some reason, I never did.

I just remembered this episode a couple of weeks ago, when I found and
picked up a recently deceased yellow-bellied sapsucker from my yard.
I'll never see a live Ivory-billed woodpecker and noone ever will.
However, at least I've seen a dead one and realized how beautiful it
was and how the world is a little less complete without one.  I don't
think the memory of my visit to that room will escape me again.

Well, while I was at it, I should have asked if they had any passenger
pigeons, Carolina parakeets, Giant Auks, Dodos, etc.

Chad

segura@rice.edu (Chad James Segura) wrote:
> [...]
> I just remembered this episode a couple of weeks ago, when I found and
> picked up a recently deceased yellow-bellied sapsucker from my yard.
> I'll never see a live Ivory-billed woodpecker and noone ever will.
> However, at least I've seen a dead one and realized how beautiful it
> was and how the world is a little less complete without one.  I don't
> think the memory of my visit to that room will escape me again.
>
> Well, while I was at it, I should have asked if they had any passenger
> pigeons, Carolina parakeets, Giant Auks, Dodos, etc.

At the Cincinnati Zoo you can see a stuffed Passenger Pigeon as
well as a stuffed Carolina Parakeet in the same room. If I recall
correctly, the last individuals of both species died in that very
same room.  A stuffed Great Auk can be found in a museum (I forgot
the name of it) in Reykjavik, Iceland. I believe it's the only
specimen left in the world. I think not even a dead dodo is around.
Sad, very sad.
I had never heard about stuffed IBWPs being around. Where can I
see one?

Ignaz

In <3ho7a3$3jc@nntp1.u.washington.edu>, nyneve@u.washington.edu (deborah wisti-peterson) writes:
>there have not been any conformed sightings of
>ivory-billed woodpeckers in the past ten years,
>at least (i am being very conservative).
>ornithologists consider them to be extinct.
>
Deborah - Are you 100% positive of this? I thought that one or two females
were spotted in eastern Cuba within the past decade. Of course, if these
birds can't find any males then the species is doomed anyway.

// Jack Bowling                jack_bowling@mindlink.bc.ca //
// Prince George, BC                                         //
// Canada                                                     //

>Are there ANY Ivory billed woodpeckers left?  Are they finally extinct?
>Does anyone have ANY information or experiences with these birds?  I would
>love to hear them!  Thanks!

The last I heard, there may still be a few left in the pine forests of
Cuba. I don't know when the last sighting was, though. It's always hard to
say conclusively that a species is extinct, when it inhabits remote, or
poorly monitored areas. There are a number of species here in Hawai`i that
haven't been seen or heard in many years. There is constant argument as to
which should be considered extinct.

Christopher Hill
Aiea, Hawai`i (O`ahu)

> I had never heard about stuffed IBWPs being around. Where can I
> see one?
>
> Ignaz
>
I think I remember seeing one at the natuaral history museum
at Harvard.

In article <3hooh8$q06@mathserv.mps.ohio-state.edu> de Yeti <ignaz@payne.mps.ohio-state.edu> writes:
>      ....  A stuffed Great Auk can be found in a museum (I forgot
>the name of it) in Reykjavik, Iceland. I believe it's the only
>specimen left in the world. I think not even a dead dodo is around.
>Sad, very sad.
>I had never heard about stuffed IBWPs being around. Where can I
>see one?
>
>Ignaz

Greenway, "Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World" (1967) lists forty
locations of specimens of Great Auk (including Uppsala but not Reykjavik).
Most of these specimens will not be on public display, of course.

For IBWP he gives (in North America) : Cambridge, Chicago, New York,
Philadelphia, Princeton, Springfield IL, Springfield MA, San Francisco,
Syracuse, Washington. Call around if any of them are mounted ...

As to Dodo, the Ashmolean has a head and foot, the British Museum a foot,
Copenhagen a head, and Prague a "small fragment". Otherwise, there are
lots of bones, retrieved in modern times.

Daan Sandee                                           sandee@cmns.think.com
Mountain View, CA 94041

Christopher HILL (chill@BIX.com) wrote:
: >Are there ANY Ivory billed woodpeckers left?  Are they finally extinct?
: >Does anyone have ANY information or experiences with these birds?  I would
: >love to hear them!  Thanks!

: The last I heard, there may still be a few left in the pine forests of
: Cuba. I don't know when the last sighting was, though. It's always hard to
: say conclusively that a species is extinct, when it inhabits remote, or
: poorly monitored areas. There are a number of species here in Hawai`i that
: haven't been seen or heard in many years. There is constant argument as to
: which should be considered extinct.

There was a thread here on the Cuba sightings a few months ago.  The last
sighting(s) was in the late 1980's in Cuba.  Much of that particular forest
is gone now and recent expeditions have found nothing.  It's a pretty good
bet the bird is extinct.

Chad



: Christopher Hill
: Aiea, Hawai`i (O`ahu)

Travis Patrick Lanier (tlanier@tiger.lsu.edu) wrote:
: de Yeti (ignaz@payne.mps.ohio-state.edu) wrote:
: : I had never heard about stuffed IBWPs being around. Where can I
: : see one?

: : Ignaz

: Well, as someone mentioned earlier, there is one on display at the
: Museum of Natural Science here at LSU.  (It is kind of faded, though.  I
: suppose if you ask they have other specimens in better shape you could
: look at.)

If I remember correctly the one they had which was collected in the
1880's had faded feathers (this was in 1976).  The ones from the 1930's
were in much better shape, but I don't know if these are shown to the
public unless you talk to the conservator and are very interested.

Chad

In Article <3ht54h$gct@svna0001.clipper.ssb.com>
"Bruce D. Pickholtz" <pickhobrud@mail3.infonet.com> writes:
>> I had never heard about stuffed IBWPs being around. Where can I
>> see one?
>>
>> Ignaz
>>
>I think I remember seeing one at the natuaral history museum
>at Harvard.
>
>
>

I seem to recall seeing an ivory-billed woodpecker, passenger pigeon, and
carolina parakeet at a museum in Charleston, SC, or at least two of the three.
Anyone else been there?

Andrew C. Core
University of Tennessee
applcore@utkvx.utk.edu