# The Official Ivory-bill Is Alive Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 28, 2005, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524 "2005-04-28T12:03:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FriendRob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecc23a/32.png) [@FriendRob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriendRob)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/1 "2005-04-28T12:03:21Z")
> **[Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Rediscovered in Arkansas](https://www.npr.org/2005/04/28/4622633/ivory-billed-woodpecker-rediscovered-in-arkansas)** > > Scientists say a rare ivory-billed woodpecker — thought to be extinct — has been found in a remote nature reserve in Arkansas. The sighting was kept secret for a year, in part to protect the habitat. Yay! That’s really all I have to say about it. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/2 "2005-04-28T12:18:54Z")
Hey, I heard that this morning on NPR. I’m from Arkansas originally, and I know of the area they’re talking about. The White River bottom land forest is wildlife heaven. It’s also very dense in some areas, so I can see how a species could go unnoticed there. I wonder what other “extinct” species will turn up… ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/3 "2005-04-28T12:22:25Z")
Isn’t that the stomping grounds of the Swamp Ape? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/4 "2005-04-28T12:24:14Z")
… or maybe Skunk Ape. I often get confused; it has been years since I bothered with any sasquatchery. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/5 "2005-04-28T13:10:38Z")
Maybe you’re thinking of the [Fouke Monster](http://www.whitington.com/fouke/). (Anyone remember _The Legend of Boggy Creek_ ?) But that’s in SW Arkansas, not too far from Texarkana. The White River area (the wildlife refuge part) is in the east central part of the state. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/6 "2005-04-28T13:11:07Z")
Outstanding. BTW, I believe Bigfoot is in Louisiana or Texas. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/7 "2005-04-28T13:53:06Z")
He’d blend right in with the population. _rimshot_ ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/8 "2005-04-28T13:55:13Z")
But seriously, I wouldn’t be too surprised if a Carolina Parakeet showed up. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/9 "2005-04-28T14:10:49Z")
This is way cool. I remeber the search a few years ago (after some reported hearings of songs) Here is a GQ: Are there any other instances of recent extinct species that turned out to be non extinct? (ceolocanths don’t count since they weren’t thought to be recenetly extinct) Brian ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/10 "2005-04-28T14:51:32Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > any other instances of recent extinct species that turned out to be non extinct? The [Takahe](http://www.kcc.org.nz/birds/takahe.asp) is one. And this is huge news about the ivory-billed woodpecker - easily among the most significant events in US ornithology of the past 40 years. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/11 "2005-04-28T14:54:27Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I wouldn’t be too surprised if a Carolina Parakeet showed up. A better bet would be an eskimo curlew or Bachman’s warbler. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/12 "2005-04-28T17:01:50Z")
Okay, now the pressure is on our Tasmanian/Australian friends to find a thylacine! ---
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/13 "2005-04-28T17:08:01Z")
Dammit, Bobby! 🙂 I was going to pipe up about the thylacine. That would just be too awesome. ---
**Author:** ![gaucho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@gaucho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaucho)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/14 "2005-04-28T19:19:19Z")
Isn’t this the coolest? Here’s alink to an old NPR story that got me excited about it: [http://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/2002/march/](http://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/2002/march/) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/15 "2005-04-28T21:42:45Z")
It’s good news. It also throws cold water on the idea that destroying an animal’s only known habitat will cause its extinction. How many species will just shrug and say, “Well, Maude, here come the loggers. :eek: I guess I’ll just die?” Most critters are pretty resourceful when it comes to survival. The fact of our ignorance does not equal non-existance. A certain species of leaf-hopper in Alaska probably had been around for centuries when my Uncle Gene “discovered” it. What he actually did was to document that it was different from any known species. Then he named it after himself. We don’t know what the bug called itself until then. By the way, at 20 inches, the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker is one big woodpecker. About triple the size of the Downy ones we see in my backyard. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/16 "2005-04-28T23:12:57Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > It also throws cold water on the idea that destroying an animal’s only known habitat will cause its extinction. They’ve documented one. ---
**Author:** ![Smitty\_Werbenyeggermanjenson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Smitty\_Werbenyeggermanjenson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty_Werbenyeggermanjenson)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/17 "2005-04-29T00:00:23Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > It’s good news. It also throws cold water on the idea that destroying an animal’s only known habitat will cause its extinction. How many species will just shrug and say, “Well, Maude, here come the loggers. :eek: I guess I’ll just die?” Most critters are pretty resourceful when it comes to survival. Are you saying that we should just destroy habitat with reckless abandon because some animals will find something else? Did all those other thousands of species just go extinct on their own? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/18 "2005-04-29T00:00:48Z")
Moving this one to IMHO, as there is NO question here. That’s all I have to say. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/19 "2005-04-29T00:44:50Z")
The trouble being that this is neither mundane nor pointless. It is, however, shared. ---
**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, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524/20 "2005-04-29T00:48:09Z")
This is terrific news. I am absolutely ecstatic. It was only recently in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=308273) that I opined that this bird was gone forever. The paper that is being published with the official announcement can be found here: [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/rapidpdf/1114103v1.pdf](http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/rapidpdf/1114103v1.pdf) > [@AskNott](#): > > It’s good news. It also throws cold water on the idea that destroying an animal’s only known habitat will cause its extinction. How many species will just shrug and say, “Well, Maude, here come the loggers. :eek: I guess I’ll just die?” Most critters are pretty resourceful when it comes to survival. > > … This is a joke, right? This species could well still go extinct. They haven’t seen more than one bird at a time, in fact the authors freely admit they may have only seen the same bird several times rather than different individuals. They would need to find several breeding pairs in a contiguous protected habitat big enough to support them to even have a prayer of truly saving the species. At least I have some hope now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-ivory-bill-is-alive-thread/301524.md?page=2)