June 16, 2005
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and Cornell Laboratory of
Ornithology announce the establishment of an e-mail address
ivorybill@cornell.edu and
associated web site to report sightings of the rediscovered
Ivory-billed Woodpecker.
Since the announcement in April that the
Ivory-billed Woodpecker has been
confirmed at Arkansas’ Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, we’ve had
numerous calls reporting sightings, said Sam D. Hamilton, Southeast
Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. We need to gather
this information so biologists can explore any promising leads.
Because the Ivory-billed Woodpecker looks very similar to the more common
Pileated Woodpecker, biologists urge the public to carefully review the
information on the web site, including range maps, habitat descriptions,
field marks, and photos of both birds, before reporting sighting
information.
People who believe they’ve seen an Ivory-billed Woodpecker should fill out
the form available at
www.birds.cornell.edu/ and send it to
ivorybill@cornell.edu. Those
without Internet access may request the form by calling the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology at (800) 843-2473.
We’ve had reports of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in people’s backyards from
Michigan to Maine, said Ron Rohrbaugh of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
These observations are well outside of the Ivory-bill’s historic range, but
even within the range it’s unlikely that someone would encounter one in
their backyard. Rather, the birds sighted in these situations are almost
certainly Pileated Woodpeckers. We urge the public to carefully study the
differences between an Ivory-billed and Pileated woodpecker before
reporting a sighting. This will help us focus on those reports that are
most credible.
The Service has established a second e-mail address,
ivorybill@fws.gov, where the public
can submit questions or comments about the recovery of the Ivory-billed
Woodpecker. The public may also write to: Ivory-billed Woodpecker Recovery
Team Leader, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 1875 Century Boulevard, Atlanta,
GA 30345.
The Service and Cornell Lab of Ornithology will work closely with partners
including The Nature Conservancy, state fish and wildlife agencies, and
university researchers throughout the Southeast to investigate credible
reports of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers.
The partners hope that hunters, birders, hikers, kayakers and others who
spend time exploring the bottomland hardwood swamps of the Southeast may be
able to help in the search for the bird.
It was kayaker Gene Sparling that led us to the confirmed Cache River
Refuge sighting, said John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology. We hope that more Ivory-billed Woodpeckers are out there, just
waiting to be seen.
|
Please join us in our
Birding Discussions
forums for topics covering the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, endangered bird
species,
Birding, Backyard Wildlife and More.
|