Ivory-billed Woodpecker Opinion Poll
Floyd Hays of the Department of Biology at Pacific Union College is conducting an online survey designed to "assess [public] opinion on the currently available evidence for the existence of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker." Hays says that the results will be made public "at some point in the future." Everyone is invited to participate in the survey, which is geared to people of all skill levels, even non-birders.
posted by John L. Trapp at
8/25/2006 02:10:00 PM
2 Comments:
John, you realize the IBW has been reported in west virginia? I've gotten 3 separate believable reports from greenbrier / pocohantas county wva from college-educated locals who know pileated well.
the ibw was on the wva bird list prior to 1900 and its original range included parts of wva! get looking! rip lyttle, takoma park, md. 301.526.6086-cell. fact is stranger than fiction, mr. trapp.
Thank you for your comment, Mr. Lyttle. I don't have a copy of George Hall's book on the birds of West Virginia in front of me, but I know that he included IBWO on the list of West Virginia birds and listed its status as extirpated on the basis of remains found in archaeological sites. But the bills of IBWOs were widely traded by Native Americans and there is little evidence that it ever occurred naturally anywhere in the State. As for reputed recent sightings, I'm highly skeptical, even from college-educated locals, as the chances of mis-identification are just too high. There have been no reports of IBWOs in this century by ornithologists or knowledgeable birders.
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