Is the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Extinct? New research says No

[@xflyingtiger]

The authors of this report did a really good job. You did a really good job in this video I think. Thank you. I must confess that I have wanted this bird to still be alive, and I continue to hold out hope.

[@KathrynsWorldWildfireTracking]

Thank you for your coverage of this issue. Really sad - Ivory's needed old-growth habitat. They may have just "survived" once it was nearly all cut down due to environmental laws being struck during WWII. (Happened in Oregon/California too.) Now that some of the trees have aged enough to become old growth once again - risk of logging. If they're around - they need that old growth. They need a chance. This is their last chance.

[@dogtoddy]

"I saw no field marks that we associate with Ivory-billed Woodpecker: I did not see the head, or bill, or neck or body, or the tail" - Erik Hendrickson

[@dogtoddy]

"I understand that my sighting is awful, in so far as I saw none of what we consider classic field marks of an Ivorybill, and I had no opportunity to observe the bird for any length of time." - Erik Hendrickson

[@markgraham3370]

Your review has good detail and is balanced, well done.

[@paulaweadon8130]

I feed birds.. I have pileated woodpeckers here & there. They're very shy, the slightest sound from inside my home, they take flight. It took me months to lure them to the suet feeders. If the ivory bill is in fact, still with us,I hope they stay hidden. If I saw an ivory bill at my feeder, I'd say nothing.

[@Fawnarix]

I think your perspective towards the end on why sightings of various animals may not be as common as they "should be" highlights one of the crucial fundamentals of Biology. Now I'm not a biologist by any means even though I was an avid birder in my childhood. I went to school at a liberal arts college but there was a segment on science and I read an old paper from the 1800s or early 1900s which said this: that Biology is the most difficult science because the objects of study as well as their conditions are so variable. Every individual organism has its own behavior and, for a lack of less loaded term, free will. And so if there's an animal species that is already rare, then the chance of seeing it would be exponentially rarer.

[@Rockmonanov]

We need to start getting cameras out to KZbinrs so they can start taking pictures of all the Ivory Billed Wood Peckers they’re seeing!

[@brighteyedbirding]

Thanks for this video. Super informative and you did a great job of explaining things. I too am a hopeful skeptic, but the authors really do come forward with quite a bit of evidence. Evidence that adds up in the best way possible. Fingers are crossed more work comes from this.

[@michaelbeaster2921]

You have one of the best unbiased analyses of the Latta research on youtube. The most fascinating thing to me about the ivory billed woodpecker mythology is just how strong a phenomenon confirmation bias is in humans. You might expect random people in youtube comments to double down when its pointed out that what they actually saw was a Pileated. But for intelligent experts with pHDs to be so personally invested in this bird still existing was a surprise to me.

[@xflyingtiger]

Add to confirmation bias the additional bias of wanting certain tracts of land to continue receiving government protection, and knowing that a species like the Ivory-bill Woodpecker may hold the key to the future of that tract of land (I have to believe that this idea is at least subliminally present in the minds of many researchers) and confirmation bias becomes reinforced. But, with that in mind, I am personally hopeful for further research confirming the existence of the Ivory-bill Woodpecker.

[@dogtoddy]

In January 2007, Ph.D. Geoffrey Hill said "This is extremely frustrating for all of us, but we are getting very close to a photograph of these woodpeckers. We’ll have a photo or video soon." That was 17 years ago. Forgive me if I don't trust him.

[@JimJWalker]

I have three mating pairs of Pileated Woodpeckers on my 5 acres in Florida just north of Gainesville. I see Pileateds almost daily. They have a distinct way of flying where they seem to bob and weave in the air as they move through the air. In 2018 I saw a large woodpecker that looked like a Pileated except it was flying more like a hawk or eagle. I could not tell if it was a Ivory-Bill, but it was not flying like a Pileated. I continue to look, but have not seen anything similar since.

[@skybluskyblueify]

What the biologists of the time said about the Ivory-Billed reminds me of what biologists back then said about Australian wildlife. They thought that marsupials were primitive and were dying off because the more modern mammals were the eventual winners in evolution. Sounds like a way to justify the decimation of wildlife.

[@KathrynsWorldWildfireTracking]

That's the pessimistic way to look at it. It's important to give people who can't defend themselves (the dead) a fair shake. This point of view - can be interpreted as psychologically defensive. A way to cope with doom. A sort of numb acknowledgement - of hopelessness. This means both the heartless, and those that deeply care - could think the same thing.

[@Roy-tg2il]

I enjoyed the way you discussed this paper. It leaves the potential that this bird could still exist which is my belief. An argument between myself, a birder, and my naysayer brother, who is a much better birder.

[@BiologistDillon]

Appreciate it! An argument fought by many, especially online!

[@wmd40]

i am not giving up hope!!!!! i refuse! :) great vid

[@HayakaOskola]

Very informative and entertaining. I hope.....HOPE that not only does our friend still exist, but that their land is preserved. If not, they are doomed. Why can't we learn our lesson about destroying habitat? Thanks for the video!

[@peterashby-saracen3681]

Very interesting and detailed - thank you! I watched the whole thing. You make some very valid points about ignorant skepticism versus extensive scientific research and it's unfortunately something we see time and time again - those who know little about a subject dismissing the hard work of dedicated scientists who're out there in the field gathering material. I feel that on the basis of the evidence gathered so far, every effort needs to be made to protect old-growth and suitable re-growth habitat but I don't feel very optimistic about that. It's concerning that, thought these areas may be remote, hunters are active. I don't want to get too much into this controversial area (I'm totally anti-hunting myself) but I dread to think of how many times gunshots and other hunting activity has forced critically endangered birds to abandon eggs and chicks... I'm in Spain, a country which like the US has a strong hunting presence and hunters generally have this attitude of "I can go absolutely anywhere I **** well like to pursue my hobby". I truly hope it's not too late for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker.

[@AuntDew1952]

Back in 1962-64 my mom and I saw a bird(s) on three different occasions in a huge maple tree in our back yard, as well as one in our front yard. We weren't too far from the Cumberland River in Nashville, TN. I have always loved watching birds, thanks to my grandparents. I still look for different birds and have bird feeders.

[@AuntDew1952]

Sorry, I should have stated they looked just like the Woodpecker show here. They were very large compared to the other birds. I am 71 now and still love birdwatching.

[@bensanders5681]

It’s extinct. Have you looked at David Sibley’s rebuttals?

[@NathanWebb-c5h]

I heard and saw an ivory-billed woodpecker in the summer of 2018. I recognized its call from the audio and saw it in a woodlot next to a lake. I live not far from the Choctawhatchee River.

[@Mr.Pennington]

I saw a female in southwest va a few years ago for a couple minutes up close. I didnt realize it was considered extinct. I was pretty sure i had seen a few when i was a kid. It was bigger than a pileated and Unlike its only lookalike it had an ivory bill and like the way you tell the difference between a downy and hairy woodpecker this birds beak was disproportionately long. It had big goofy yellow eyes, no red head but a big solid black cowlick like alfalfa. It had no black line around its eyes like a football player that Pileated have., It had white racing stripes down its back. It had a big white band on the trailing edge of its wings when seen from above which made it look like a flying piano; both in size and color as it flew away. Its pecks were more poweful and the cadence of pecks was different than the Pileated(which i have at least 2 pairs of in my hollar so i hear them every day). It made what i now know is called a kent call. At the time i would have decribed it as saying "mEep" while sounding like a mixture of a crow and a duck. The old audio is spot on.

[@hairiestwizard]

The Southwest? That's not even its historic range

[@supermanprime9596]

@@hairiestwizardHe said “Southwest VA”. As in Southwest Virginia.

[@RavenOnTheMountain]

I'm truly amazed that after all these years, with all these observers (some of whom have to be competent photographers) and with the light-collecting abilities and speed of modern telephoto lenses, that there are still no decent photos of an ivorybill. Pelagic birders are always shooting pictures of similar-sized birds at similar long distances from the rocking deck of a boat, where the birds pop up and disappear as quickly, and they are often able to make definitive IDs. And those seabirds have really obscure field marks. What's the problem here?

[@reptiledysfunction5512]

Oh, don't you know that these birds are shape-shifters. They can evaporate and reform some distance away. And they are always blurry. You just try getting a decent photo of a shape-shifting blurry bird.

[@peterashby-saracen3681]

I think that Dillon has already covered this issue very thoroughly. There are many similar examples from all around the world and in all manner of ecosystems that demonstrate just how hard it can be to get that defining decent image.

[@DemandAlphabetBeBrokenUp]

Didn't they need 30 miles per breeding pair? As birds go isn't that in the extreme size?

[@TheVery1stTime]

I’ve seen them out here in SE TEXAS in the early 2000 a pair use to come to our tree every single morning the first time I saw it I recall thinking got damn that is a big ass Woodpecker LOL and it has more white and looks different than the other ones I’ve saw prior and one morning I remember someone seeing and saying those birds are endangered I had no idea they where supposedly extinct I lived close to the bayou and people say they are deep in the bayou it’s parts of the marsh that only a few people go to or has been Pleasure Island out here in Port Arthur the back part leading towards the bayou is places people just don’t visit I would bet they are some out there yet I 1000% saw this same bird on countless mornings

[@theotheraccount2734]

The pileated aren't ghosts 👻.... Plenty are black mostly...What was this for? Why do that?

[@brianbrown2266]

Well I can tell you it was kicking in S.C in the 1980"s I actully found a dead one on road with the Black crest 😢 so I know it was not the it's more common cousin.I took her home found like these grubs in her stomach nothing else.the bird was just like the one showed on the old video in 1930's

[@jgolden45tuba1]

I can tell you what happened these birds were really loud and people shot them

[@vladimirberegovoy2886]

He became like Elvis Presley. Only sightings...

[@donmiles5080]

"new research" says nothing concrete. Produce real videos not blurry or dark videos or streaks flying by that show nothing.

[@langofarias6010]

Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Extinct? YES it is, move on, let's try to save a tooth-billed pigeon or a night parrot.... or something still alive.

[@bdablader95]

I remember learning about this species in middle school back in 2008, I still firmly believe these birds are alive, if not in America, then definitely in Cuba. Birds are better at hiding than most other animals, I still dream of they day we finally see them again.

[@arklat]

I saw one in Arkansas. Back around 1995.

[@deadhorse1391]

When I was a kid I went Duck hunting in the flooded timber along the Choctawhatchee river with my uncle. Kind of a slow with not many birds flying so when this big woodpecker flew in and lit on a tree in front of me I shot it. I’ll be honest I thought it was a Pileated woodpecker but looking at I saw it was much bigger then a Pileated and had a heavy cream colored bill a to much white on its wings Showed it to my uncle and he said Good Lord! Thats an Ivory Bill and they are extinct! I was an Amateur Taxidermist and wanted to mount it but he said we were probably looking at a big fine and maybe even having our guns confiscated if we got caught, was shooting a nice Winchester model 12 I had got for my birthday so I sure didn’t want that so we just buried it in the backyard I did go back later and dig up the skull I have always wondered if I killed the last Ivory Bill

[@KathrynsWorldWildfireTracking]

If this is true - you don't have to worry about the law. Statute of limitations is long past. If you could produce the skull for tests, you might save the species. I'm serious. It would prove the last Ivory Billed survived after the 40's. (Last confirmed sighting.) Might also provide DNA for cloning. (Acids in the tanning process destroys most DNA. So cloning museum specimens is usually a forlorn hope.) You could have a priceless treasure.

[@deadhorse1391]

@@KathrynsWorldWildfireTracking I think they would confiscate it from me so I will have to take a pass on that

[@andrewhansen4179]

You remind me of the jackass that shot my trained falcon right out of the air.

[@deadhorse1391]

@@andrewhansen4179 now that IS funny! 😃

[@thunderhammerx2966]

​@@deadhorse1391why save an entire species of historic birds when one can have a personal trophy instead?

[@JimJWalker]

If Ivory-bills are nomadic in nature you will not see them repeatedly in the same place.

[@dogtoddy]

If they were nomadic it would increase their chances of being rediscovered and photographed. They are extinct.

[@JimJWalker]

@@dogtoddy By who? I am not talking about migration flying over cities. I mean that stationary cameras at old trees deep in the swamp isn't the best way to find them when the population is under 500 birds or so. They move around and probably do not regularly stay in the same trees.

[@dogtoddy]

@@JimJWalker under 500? That's a crazy number. Even if it's closer to 300. Where are you fitting all these Ivory-billed Woodpeckers?

[@dougmacomber4275]

Nobody is questioning the existence of male pileated woodpeckers, which is what your thumbnail pic shows.

[@BiologistDillon]

Nope. That's a pic of a confirmed specimen. Their bills darken after prep, losing the ivory color Edit: Original thumbnail photo came from an incorrectly labeled stock image. Fixed with updated thumbnail.

[@dougmacomber4275]

Confirmed by whom? Ivory-bills do not have a red malar (i.e. ‘mustache’) stripe. Check your field marks-it’s a male pileated.

[@dmlodo7166]

@@BiologistDillon I would double check the source claiming it’s a confirmed specimen. That red mustache most definitely confirms it’s a male Pileated woodpecker.

[@dmlodo7166]

@@BiologistDillon not to mention the degree of whiteness on the face.

[@ivangutierrez7602]

​@@BiologistDillon Im fairly certain you got the image on your thumbnail from a foto where it shows a pileated and an Ivory billed side by side (im pretty sure that i found the actual photo but can't post links here), none of the prepped specimens photos you can find online have such dark bills, it appears that they get brownish rather, not to mention that the one on your thumbnail has several white stripes on the face (behind the eye, across the face and under the chin) which are all field marks of pileated woodpeckers, (these field marks are on the actual presentation from the US wildlife and fishing service to delist the ivory billed ) your's also lacks the black stripe on the red crest and also has red on the face which the Ivory billed does not, as it has a largely dark face. Like, it's an honest mistake I've seen many people make with the more recent talk about this bird, there's no shame on it but also no need to double down on it.

[@frankvega8904]

I SAW A PAIR THROUGH THE BACK WINDOW OF A HOUSE I WAS FLIPPING., ABOUT IN 2004. THEY WERE SO BIG I THOUHT THEY WERE CHICKENS. THEY HOPPED TOWARDS A LARGE OAK TREE , HOPPED ON TO THE TRUNK AND CLIMBED UP. THEY ARE NOT EXTINCT.