FYI
Article from the Uk's 'Birdguides' site received this morning.
Video evidence that an extinct woodpecker is alive and well in Arkansas, US=
A may prove to be a case of mistaken identity. Research published today in =
the open access journal BMC Biology shows how fleeting images thought to be=
the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis could be another nativ=
e woodpecker species.
J. Martin Collinson compared David Luneau's Arkansas video footage from Apr=
il 2004 of the supposed Ivory-billed Woodpecker with fresh footage of the P=
ileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus, a superficially similar black-and-wh=
ite species. The Pileated Woodpecker's wings were thought to beat more slow=
ly than the 8.6 beats per second captured on Luneau's video, and its wings =
have black trailing edges. The trailing edges of the Ivory-billed Woodpecke=
r's wings are white.
Aberdeen-based Collinson concludes that Luneau's video shows a bird that is=
not fully identified, and probably a Pileated Woodpecker. His analysis of =
the fresh Pileated Woodpecker video footage showed that its wings did reach=
8.6 beats per second during an escape flight. He also found that as Pileat=
ed Woodpeckers fly away from the camera, their plumage is hard to distingui=
sh from the Ivory-billed Woodpecker's. He suggests that the Pileated Woodpe=
cker's distinctive black trailing wing edges can be spotted in the Luneau v=
ideo as the wings stroke downwards. Previous analysis suggested these were =
the black wingtips of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.
Collinson argues that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker's rediscovery remains unp=
roven: "With no verified reports in the USA for over 50 years, it seemed im=
possible that a crow-sized black, white and red bird should have eluded the=
nation's ornithologists, hunters and conservationists in heavily populated=
southeastern USA for so long." However, the original video published in Sc=
ience catalysed conservation efforts in southeast USA's bottomland swamp fo=
rests, which face continuing development. Furthermore, it spurred renewed e=
fforts, in Florida and elsewhere, to find the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and d=
etermine its status in the USA.
Thursday 15th March 2007
* Lorax on the English Wikipedia project has granted permission to copy, di=
stribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Docume=
ntation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Sof=
tware Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no =
Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled=
"GNU Free Documentation License." Subject to disclaimers.
Roger Norwood
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