"Hello? You've Seen an Ivory-bill?"

Rediscovery prompts questions?and reports of sightings

By Anne Hobbs

Whether people have questions about ivory-bills, bald-headed cardinals, or Soras, Anne Hobbs is happy to answer.

Photo by Susan Spear/CLO

I've got a great job. I answer questions about birds from people who write to the Lab of Ornithology by postal mail and email, or who call by phone. That includes common questions about birds attacking windows and bald-headed cardinals at feeders, as well as far less common questions, for instance, about whether there are still enough Soras to gather in large groups to feed as reported in the literature, or what the interpupillary distances are in compact binoculars. It also includes a whole lot of bird identification questions and concerns about birds, nests, and nestlings. I love the complete unpredictability of the questions and people's deep and far-ranging curiosity when it comes to birds (see Ask Anne).

Ever since the Big Woods Conservation Partnership announced the rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker on April 28, 2005, I've also received overwhelming responses and inquiries about ivory-bills from people across the continent. During the first three days after the announcement, the Lab received more than 250 email messages. A month later, we had received an additional 330 emails and more than 50 telephone calls.

What did people write and call about? Many just wanted to thank us, often profusely and always very sincerely, for our persistence in trying to find this bird. Those who touched me the most said they wished their parents and grandparents could be here for this discovery because they'd never given up hope that the bird was still alive.

There were also people who wrote in with suggestions, for instance, about putting professional photographers in the field because they would have a better chance of getting a photo, or with recommendations about where to focus our search. People worried about the impact of our discovery on the ivorybill. I was able to reassure them that the Big Woods Conservation Partnership had made the bird and its habitat their highest priority. People wrote asking for more information, sounds, photos, news. And of course, the press wrote and called a lot, wanting photos, sound clips, historical information, confirmation of facts, and interviews with someone who had seen an ivory-bill.

Many people also wrote about their own relationship with the Ivory-billed Woodpecker or about sightings they believed were of ivory-bills. I heard from

• ? People of the bottomland swamps of the Southeast who knew the bird was still alive, who had seen it in the past, had never doubted its survival, some of whom said they didn't understand what the fuss was about
• ? People who remembered seeing the bird as a child or young adult and the memory had stuck with them
• ? Birders who were sure they had seen an ivory-bill in the past, had good details about the bird, tried to report it to authorities, and were either ignored or, worse, laughed at
• ? People within the possible range of the ivory-bill, in the right habitat, who wanted us to know where they had seen the bird
• ? People totally outside the range for this bird who had seen a really large, prehistoric looking woodpecker with a red crest and were sure it was an ivory-bill
• ? Many people who assured me they knew the difference between a Pileated Woodpecker and an Ivory-billed Woodpecker and had seen the ivory-bill
• ? People who didn't know there was such a thing as a Pileated Woodpecker.

When people reported sightings from the historic range and habitats of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, I encouraged them to visit our web site, make sure they were certain about their details, and then fill in our online sighting form. Those sightings will help the Ivory-billed Woodpecker search team to plan their strategy for the upcoming field season beginning in November and will add important historical documentation to a permanent database for use in research and conservation.

To people who couldn't have seen an ivory-bill based on their location or the habitat, I told them, as gently as possible, that they'd probably seen a Pileated Woodpecker, a great bird to see at any time. But then I also told them not to take my word for it and encouraged them to do their own comparison at our web site. Some remained convinced of their ivory-bill sighting despite the impossibility, and that was just fine. Who am I to take away someone's remembrance? I just answer questions.

For more information about Ivory-billed Woodpeckers or to fill out a sightings form, visit www.birds.cornell. edu/ivory.

Anne Hobbs is the Lab's public information specialist. To write to Anne, please send email to cornellbirds@cornell. edu. Although Anne does her best to answer every inquiry, we apologize if, because of the volume of mail, she may not be able to reply immediately.

For permission to reprint all or part of this article, please contact Laura Erickson, editor, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14850. Phone: (607) 254-1114. email: lle24@cornell.edu