IBWO: Insider Comment on the ID Challenge
This email regarding the ivory-billed woodpecker was forwarded to me by a longtime bird pal of mine;
Actually, I am not on any side with regard to the paper's contention that the video doesn't support the assertion that IBWO still exists. It is just a crummy video. I thought Cornell made a mistake by not including all the audio evidence they have at the time of their initial publication. Apparently they made the judgment that the specificity of audio evidence is insufficiently well known among the public at large that they would publish it later for what they thought would be a narrower audience.
I eagerly await the analysis of Prum, Robbins and Jackson. And the rebuttal by Fitzpatrick, et al. And the re-rebuttal by Prum, et al.
When we were taken into the confidence of TNC and Cornell, we were told that there was no picture. They desperately needed a picture! David Luneau, who captured the video, sat right across the table from me and didn't say a word. Well, they still need a picture! Given how super-wary that bird is, I think Elvis is going to have to trip the shutter on himself.
Regards.
(This forwarded email was published from a nearby public library, while others of the public loudly bitch and whine in the background, demanding their own ten minutes of internet access).
© 2004, 2005, 2006 by GrrlScientist
posted by GrrlScientist at
09:10
2 Peer Reviews:
Seems that someone needs to write a grant to set up motion cameras in the area and maybe something to attract the bird? Food, pheromones, ?
I think that we might have to use cameras to capture the bird in film, finally, once and for all. But recordings of the IBWO calling or banging on a tree would also be excellent (acceptable) evidence. Personally, I think they ought to train sniffer dogs to find moulted IBWO feathers so we could ID the birds from their DNA profiles .. using that method, we also might be able to get an indea of how many birds we are dealing with.
Of course, the sniffer dog idea has many difficulties, too.
GrrlScientist
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