IBWO Toots: An Archive of Ivory-billed Woodpecker Blog Postings

I well remember the excitement I felt when I first heard rumors, back in April 2005, that there would soon be a major announcement coming out of Arkansas about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis). Someone must surely have discovered a breeding pair, I thought. My greatest fear was realized when what was reported was not a breeding pair, but the sighting(s) of a single individual. And when I viewed the blurry image that was presented as purported documentation, my heart sank. In subsequent months and years I found myself inexorably drawn into the IBWO debate, growing ever more skeptical of the “evidence” being put forth claiming the continued existence of IBWOs in the southeastern U.S.

Caption: This ghostly image of the skull of Campephilus principalis is from the University of Texas.

As someone with a definite opinion on the subject, I found it impossible to resist occasionally offering up my own comments. In the 34 months since the announced “rediscovery,” I have written no fewer than 65 blog-posts relating (directly or indirectly) to the IBWO; some are whimsical or frivolous while others are more serious and ubstantive in nature. They’ve all been fun to research and write. My IBWO blog-posts are listed here in inverse chronological order:

2008:
• Got Pecker?—Classy Thong (2/8/2008)
  
• Ivory-bill “Boom Goes Bust” (2/7/2007)
  
  2007:
  
• Demise of a Bird Blog (12/21/2007)
  
• Status Unchanged—Ivory-billed Woodpecker (11/23/2007)
  
• The Ivory-billed debate (7/6/2007)
  
• Literary Encounters With Lord God Birds and Their Kin (6/1/2007)
  
• Lord God Birds in the Scientific Literature (5/30/2007)
  
• Birders and Ornithologists Lambasted by Ivory-billed Woodpecker Investigator (5/7/2007)
  
• Is Bigfoot Endangered? (5/7/2007)
  
• Woodpecker Jam (3/28/2007)
  
• More than Just Ivory-bills in the Choctawhatchee (3/25/2007)
  
• Criticism and Skepticism in Science (3/20/2007)
  
• I Just Saw the Lord God Bird! (3/18/2007)
  
• Stealth Bird Watching (3/17/2007)
  
• More Ivorybill Memorabilia (3/12/2007)
  
• New IBWO Search Technique? (3/9/2007)
  
• Realistic Expectations (3/6/2007)
  
• Why So Many Books About Ivory-bills? (3/3/2007)
  
• Ivory-billed Woodpeckers on the Web: A Reader’s Guide (2/14/2007)
  
• Delving into Tree-Cavity Ecology (2/11/2007)
  
• Googling the Ivory-billed Woodpecker #14: Other (2/5/2007)
  
• Googling the Ivory-billed Woodpecker #13: Status (2/4/2007)
  
• Googling the Ivory-billed Woodpecker #12: Public Reaction (2/4/2007)
  
• Googling the Ivory-billed Woodpecker #11: Principals Involved (2/4/2007)
  
• Googling the Ivory-billed Woodpecker #10: News Outlets (2/4/2007)
  
• Googling the Ivory-billed Woodpecker #9: Methods and Equipment (2/4/2007)
  
• Googling the Ivory-billed Woodpecker #8: Marketing (2/4/2007)
  
• Googling the Ivory-billed Woodpecker #7: Localities (2/4/2007)
  
• Googling the Ivory-billed Woodpecker #6: Evidence (2/4/2007)
  
• Googling the Ivory-billed Woodpecker #5: Assessment of Findings (2/4/2007)
  
• Googling the Ivory-billed Woodpecker #4: Agencies & Organizations (2/4/2007)
  
• Googling the Ivory-billed Woodpecker #3: Activities (2/4/2007)
  
• Googling the Ivory-billed Woodpecker #2: Name Variants (2/4/2007)
  
• Googling the Ivory-billed Woodpecker #1: Introduction (2/4/2007)
  
• Wilson’s Ivory-bill (2/3/2007)
  
• Alternative Names for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (1/12/2007)
  
• Alternative Names for the Pileated Woodpecker (1/12/2007)
  
  2006:
• Feathers Fly Over Another Holy Grail (11/28/2006)
  
• “a vortex of extinction” (11/28/2006)
  
• Ivory-billed Woodpecker Postage Stamps (11/14/2006)
  
• Redefining Extinction (11/13/2006)
  
• ABA Punts on IBWO Decision (11/9/2006)
  
• The Ivory-billed Woodpecker and the Arkansas Bird Records Committee (11/6/2006)
  
• “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing” (11/3/2006)
  
• More Hyperbole from Tim Gallagher (9/21/2006)
  
• In the Blink of an Eye (9/7/2006)
  
• Woodpecker ID Probabilities (8/25/2006)
  
• Ivory-billed Woodpecker Opinion Poll (8/24/2006)
  
• TWO Ivory-billed Woodpeckers!?!? (8/16/2006)
  
• LVIS to Search for Elvis with Woody’s Help (8/8/2006)
  
• Woodpecker Boxing Shorts (7/18/2006)
  
• Publication Lag Times in Science Express (7/13/2006)
  
• The Grail Bird, UFOs and Elvis (7/11/2006)
  
• Correction: Ivory-billed Woodpecker—More on “The Leak” (7/5/2006)
  
• Ivory-billed Woodpecker—More on “The Leak” (7/3/2006)
  
• Ivory-billed Woodpecker Comments Offend Blogger (5/25/2006)
  
• Ivory-billed Woodpecker and Skepticism (5/24/2006)
  
• Ivory-billed Woodpecker Eludes Searchers in Arkansas (5/21/2006)
  
• Ivory-bills as Cryptids (5/10/2006)
  
• Ivory-bill Yarns (5/8/2006)
  
• Jaundiced View of Ivory-billed Woodpecker Happenings (4/23/2006)
  
• Ivory-billed Woodpecker: Initial Excitement Yields to Skepticism (4/20/2006)
  
  2005:
• Authenticity of Ivory-billed Woodpecker Sightings to be Challenged (7/20/2005)
  
• Lord God Bird: The Convergence of Conservation Science and Human Ingenuity (7/13/2005)