# Ivory Billed Woodpecker!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648 "2005-04-29T00:42:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/1 "2005-04-29T00:42:18Z")
Cornell announced today that they have conclusive proof that the Ivory Billed Wookpecker still lives! Lord. I can hardly comprehend this. A species back from extinction. I still have tears in my eyes. I know other species have been rediscovered. Other species discovered. But the Ivory Billed Woodpecker. This is special. This is amazing. I am not a birder, not a biologist. Haven’t been to a Sierra Club meeting in 10 years. But in a world where every day it seems there is another symbol of degradation and destruction of our world, something great happens. I didn’t know where to post this-I wanted it in headlines in every thread. But hopefully, this is a good place for really great news. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/2 "2005-04-29T00:57:32Z")
Tonight’s CBS Evening News had a feature on this. They showed some not-very-detailed footage shot in an Arkansas swamp. An older film (from the 1940s) showed this magnificent bird in more detail. What a beauty! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/3 "2005-04-29T01:07:44Z")
awesome!! A nice, in-depth link: [http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=634044](http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=634044) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/4 "2005-04-29T01:08:33Z")
'e wasn’t dead. ‘e was just restin’. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/5 "2005-04-29T01:23:12Z")
There is a thread on this subject going in MPSIMS: > **[The Official Ivory-bill Is Alive Thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=314168)** > > Yay! That’s really all I have to say about it. There are some interesting views there about habitat destruction and how it affects threatened species. The article on the woodpecker that is going to be published in _Science_ can be found here: [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/rapidpdf/1114103v1.pdf](http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/rapidpdf/1114103v1.pdf) It is worth looking at to see the methods used to identify the bird. And a link to the actual video: [http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol0/issue2005/images/data/1114103/DC1/1114103S1.mov](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol0/issue2005/images/data/1114103/DC1/1114103S1.mov) ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/6 "2005-04-29T03:16:02Z")
just go to the Cornell.edu main page. They have pretty much everything published about this so far-after all they are the people that ran the research program. _Glow!_ ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/7 "2005-04-29T05:41:07Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > 'e wasn’t dead. ‘e was just restin’. 'e was pining for the fjords. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/8 "2005-04-29T06:20:48Z")
Not having missed the ivory billed woodpecker when it was gone, or even knowing it was gone, I’m . . . underwhelmed. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/9 "2005-04-29T07:23:12Z")
Pffft. I’m not. This is huge, amazing, wonderful news, **Walloon** ’s apparent ignorance about the issue aside. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/10 "2005-04-29T12:33:51Z")
Be honest. Did any of you non-birders even know the ivory billed woodpecker was missing? OK. You were just as “ignorant” too. ---
**Author:** ![Miltonyz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Miltonyz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miltonyz)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/11 "2005-04-29T12:42:32Z")
I’m on the meh side. It’s a bird. We thought it was dead turns out it’s alive, why would we get worked up. > [@](#): > > Walloon’s apparent ignorance about the issue aside According to wikipedia 99.9% of ever species that has ever lived has gone extinct. There is not enough time in a lifetime to mourn over all the dead critters. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/12 "2005-04-29T13:14:47Z")
HAve you found the ivory billed woodpecker? I didn’t know he was missing. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/13 "2005-04-29T13:19:54Z")
Yes! Woodpecker is back on the menu! Mmmmm-mmmm! ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/14 "2005-04-29T13:41:40Z")
Hoping they find they have at least 1 matched set. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/15 "2005-04-29T13:46:40Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Be honest. Did any of you non-birders even know the ivory billed woodpecker was missing? OK. You were just as “ignorant” too. I’m a non-birder, and I knew. Your ignorance is your own. Don’t project it. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/16 "2005-04-29T13:48:34Z")
I’m a non-birder. I didn’t know he was missing. I still thought it was pretty cool. I liked seeing the ornithologists excitement over it. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/17 "2005-04-29T14:58:19Z")
Next thing you know, they’ll find a [Passenger Pigeon!](http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/passpigeon.htm) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/18 "2005-04-29T15:02:01Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Be honest. Did any of you non-birders even know the ivory billed woodpecker was missing? OK. You were just as “ignorant” too. I may have been one of the “ignorant”, but good news is good news, and rare, unusual good news is even better, and it seems easier to be happy about rare, unusual good news than to hold it to an unreasonable standard of how overwhelmingly mind-blowing the news is before you choose to be happy about it. YMMV. Hooray for the Woodpecker! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/19 "2005-04-29T15:06:27Z")
Wether or not you knew about it, you have to admit that a species being found for the first time in 60 years is at the very least, kinda sorta hearwarming. Not to mention the bird is, at least in the pictures (the video is too blurry) an impressive critter. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648/20 "2005-04-29T15:54:57Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Be honest. Did any of you non-birders even know the ivory billed woodpecker was missing? OK. You were just as “ignorant” too. Well, i was among the ignorant. But my ignorance was not wilfull, and now it has been corrected. And i think this is very cool. Now, if we can just find a Thylacine i’ll really be happy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-billed-woodpecker/301648.md?page=2)