Progress 10/01/07 to 09/30/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: OUTPUTS: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Ivory-billed Woodpecker Research Project has three primary focal activities: 1) Providing national scientific leadership in the search for Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 2) Implementing region-wide surveys and habitat explorations throughout the species' former geographical range, and 3) Conducting systematic searches near the region of re-discovery in eastern Arkansas. National Leadership: We work with southeastern states to deploy remote cameras and acoustic autonomous recording units to detect Ivory-billed Woodpeckers (IBWO). Data from these deployments is analyzed by Cornell and reported immediately back to regional research partners. In addition, we maintain a national web-based IBWO sightings database and participate on the national IBWO recovery team. Region-wide Surveys: We are searching for evidence of IBWOs and evaluating habitat throughout the southeast U.S. through the use of a mobile search team (MST). The MST consists of four highly trained field biologists who travel to pre-selected and prioritized sites where they work with local partners and use standardized techniques to look for evidence of IBWOs. Using remote sensing techniques, sites thought to have the greatest potential to support IBWOs are selected and visited from December through April. In 2007-08 we focused our search efforts in the Pascagoula River region, MS; Achafaly Basin, La; Mobile Delta, AL; and Everglads-Big Cypress complex, FL. Arkansas: In Arkansas we continue to conduct systematic searches for IBWOs, including the use of a helicopter to complete aerial surveys. During 2007-08 our primary focus was to complete surveys of areas receiving poor coverage in past field seasons, including the remotest areas in the north unit of the White River National Wildlife Refuge. PARTICIPANTS: PARTICIPANTS: Individuals at Cornell (excludes field staff): Ron Rohrbaugh, PI and Project Director; Martjan Lammertink, Project Scientist; Martin Piorkowski, Project Biologist; Ken Rosenberg, John Fitzpatrick, Russ Charif, Mike Powers, and Mike Pitzrick. Partners: U.S. Fish and Widlife Service, Naitonal Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, The Nature Conservnacy, Auburn University, University of Georgia, University of California, Berkeley, Texas A&M, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, Florida Freshwater Fish and Game Commission, and Partners in Flight. TARGET AUDIENCES: TARGET AUDIENCES: Numerous project staff regularly give lectures at both scientific meetings and to popular audiences. Some examples include: International Partners in Flight Conference, McAllen, TX, American Ornithologists Union, Birding Clubs/Organizations, Audubon Chapter meetings, Academic lecture series at various institutions. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The Arkansas search employed 6 full time members. The crew imitated double knocks, deployed cameras, walked transects, and did stationary watches. Bayou DeView (Cache River National Wildlife Refuge) and the White River National Wildlife Refuge were surveyed. This effort totaled 852 hours of stationary watches and 31,521 acres were covered by transect searches. No responses to the double knocks were noted and no sightings were made by team members. On 1/27/28 3 sets of double knock sounds were heard on the White River National Wildlife Refuge, but the source of these double knocks remains unknown. Six days of Helicopter Surveys in these same areas were completed in cooperation with the Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission. These flights covered approximately 152,877 acres. No Ivory-billed Woodpeckers were photographed. Woodpecker flush rates were very low (17%) in comparison with known numbers. This leads to the conclusion that, though the birds sighted during the flights could be readily identified and photographed, it is likely an ineffective method for documenting an ivory-bill. During March to April 2008, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology fielded a mobile search team of field biologists to make initial explorations into the Big Cypress and Everglades region of southern Florida. In response to reports of recent encounters in the Everglades, we discovered an extensive area of mature and nearly pristine mangrove forest capable of supporting Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. Furthermore, subsequent research revealed that ivory-bills historically occurred in this forest type. Mangroves were not previously considered to provide ivory-bill habitat, and thus this area has been overlooked in all searches for the species during the past 70 years. In addition, the Big Cypress, an area known to historically support the species and receiving only modest search coverage in the past 50 years, is connected to the mangroves, creating perhaps the largest contiguous area of potential ivory-bill habitat in the United States. This extensive forest habitat remains very poorly known ornithologically. Besides supporting breeding populations of rare species such as White-crowned Pigeon and Mangrove Cuckoo, this area undoubtedly provides critical wintering and migratory stopover habitat for large numbers of songbirds. To date, very little systematic survey work has been completed, especially during winter. The Mobile Search Team will conduct thorough searches of this region in early 2009.
Publications
- Scott, J. M., F. L. Ramsey, M. Lammertink, K. V. Rosenberg, R. Rohrbaugh, J. A. Wiens, and J. M. Reed. 2008. When is an extinct species really extinct? Gauging the search efforts for Hawaiian forest birds and the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Avian Conservation and Ecology [online] URL: http://www.ace-eco.org/vol3/iss2/art3/
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Progress 10/01/06 to 09/30/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Ivory-billed Woodpecker Research Project has three primary focal activities: 1) Providing national scientific leadership in the search for Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 2) Implementing region-wide surveys and habitat explorations throughout the species' former geographical range, and 3) Conducting systematic searches near the region of re-discovery in eastern Arkansas. National Leadership: We work with southeastern states to deploy remote cameras and acoustic autonomous recording units to detect Ivory-billed Woodpeckers (IBWO). Data from these deployments is analyzed by Cornell and reported immediately back to regional research partners. In addition, we maintain a national web-based IBWO sightings database and participate on the national IBWO recovery team. Region-wide Surveys: We are searching for evidence of IBWOs and evaluating habitat throughout the southeast U.S. through the use of a mobile search team (MST). The MST consists of four highly
trained field biologists who travel to pre-selected and prioritized sites where they work with local partners and use standardized techniques to look for evidence of IBWOs. Using remote sensing techniques, sites thought to have the greatest potential to support IBWOs are selected and visited from December through April. Arkansas: In Arkansas we continue to conduct systematic searches for IBWOs, including the use of a helicopter to complete aerial surveys. Our current primary focus is to complete surveys of areas receiving poor coverage in past field seasons, including the remotest areas in the north unit of the White River National Wildlife Refuge.
PARTICIPANTS: Individuals at Cornell (excludes field staff): Ron Rohrbaugh, PI and Project Director Martjan Lammertink, Project Scientist Martin Piorkowski, Project Biologist Ken Rosenberg John Fitzpatrick Russ Charif Mike Powers Mike Pitzrick Partners: U.S. Fish and Widlife Service Naitonal Park Service U.S. Geological Survey Arkansas Game and Fish Commission The Nature Conservnacy Auburn University University of Georgia University of California, Berkeley Texas A&M Gulf Coast Bird Observatory Florida Freshwater Fish and Game Commission Partners in Flight
TARGET AUDIENCES: Numerous project staff regularly give lectures at both scientific meetings and to popular audiences. Some examples include: Internation Partners in Flight Conference, McAllen, TX American Ornithologists Union Birding Clubs/Organizations Audubon Chapter meetings Academic lecture series at various institutions
Impacts
National Leadership: During the 2006-07 field season we worked with five states (AR, FL, SC, TX, and TN) to deploy 24 acoustic autonomous recording units. The deployments yielded more than 2,000 hours of recordings. Thirty sound detections were identified for "expert review" and 8 of those were scored as "plausible IBWO." It's important to note that none of these sounds was deemed to be definitive for IBWO. Also during 2006-07, we worked with states to make 376 deployments of remote cameras (Reconyx), yielding 7.8 million individual images. This resulted in 356 woodpecker detections, but none were identified as possible IBWO. Region-wide Surveys: In 2006-07 the MST visited 18 locations in six states (SC, GA, FL, LA, MS, TX). They canoed or walked a total of 3,566 km during 469 person days in the field. No IBWOs were detected. At each of the 18 search locations the team qualified the habitat, mapped cavities and feeding sign, surveyed woodpecker populations, and sampled
the bird community in general. Arkansas: In Arkansas we fielded a team of paid staff and volunteers. The team searched a total of 18,018 ha of which 5,269 ha had not been searched in previous field seasons. Two-hundred-fifteen cavities were mapped, but only 30 were thought to be suitable for IBWO. We made 79 remote camera deployments on 52 cavities and 27 feeding trees, resulting in more than 1 million images and 34 woodpecker detections. No IBWOs were detected with remote cameras. During the 5 month field season we evaluated 24 possible IBWO encounters that were reported to us by staff, volunteers, and members of the public. Although many were of high interest, none could be confirmed as IBWO.
Publications
- Rohrbaugh, et al. 2007. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/pastsearches/0607season/0607storie s/0707finalreport/document_view
- Rohrbaugh et al. 2006. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/pastsearches/2005_2006/stories_rep orts_0506/
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Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06
Outputs
From 1 November 2005 to 30 April 2006 we conducted systematic searches for IBWOs in the Mississippi Delta region of eastern Arkansas. Paid staff and trained volunteers conducted active searches, stationary watches, and cavity survey transcets. We used Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) for acoustic monitoring and time-lapse video camera systems to monitor potential nest/roost cavities and feeding sign. We did not collect definitive evidence of IBWOs, but severals acoustic and visual encoutners in the White River area lead us to beleive that IBWOs might be present. In winter/spring 2006-07 we are coninuing our work in AR and conducting region-wide searches with the help of numerous partners within state and federal agencies. This work includes a Mobile Search Team, conducting searches throughout the historical range of the IBWO and exstensive use of Reconyx (time-lapse video) cameras to conduct survailance of important sites.
Impacts
Systematic range-wide searches of IBWOs have never been conducted. It's possible, even likely, that IBWOs persist outside of the region of rediscovery in Arkansas. Protection and restoration of these populations is only possible if they can be found before continued habitat loss eliminates them.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/05 to 12/31/05
Outputs
In the Big Woods of eastern Arkansas, we are conducting the largest search for breeding pairs of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers ever organized. This year's field season is 1 November 2005 through 30 April 2006. We have 15 paid full-time searchers, and are coordinating a rotating crew of volunteers each spending 2-week stints. We are deploying time-lapse video cameras, and autonomous acoustic recording units in the most promising sites. The woods are huge (500,000+ acres) and the task daunting. We have not yet found the prize, although we continue to accumulate promising leads.
Impacts
Our report on the rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in April 2005 created what many have called 'the biggest conservation news story of the century.' The announcement involved two U.S. Senators and two members of the U.S. Cabinet, and set into motion millions of dollars in public and private investment towards conservation of large tracts of southern bottomland forest. The rediscovery also stimulated concerted efforts to find breeding pairs of this magnificent bird in Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida as well as our own work in Arkansas. Discussion of the possible return of the 'Lord God Bird' has reached millions of living rooms across America, and brought into focus the ecological calamity of over-harvesting. Skepticism on the part of some experts about the nature of the evidence we presented has exposed to the general public the nature of the scientific process and scholarly debates about evidence.
Publications
- Charif, R.A., K.A. Cortopassi, H.K. Figueroa, J.W. Fitzpatrick, K.M. Fristrup, M. Lammertink, M.D. Luneau, Jr., M.E. Powers and K.V. Rosenberg. 2005. Notes and double knocks from Arkansas (in Letters). Science 309: 1489.
- Fitzpatrick, J.W., M. Lammertink, M.D. Luneau, Jr., T.W. Gallagher, B.R. Harrison, G.M. Sparling, K.V. Rosenberg, R.W. Rohrbaugh, E.C.H. Swarthout, P.H. Wrege and others. 2005. Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) persists in continental North America. Science 308: 1460-1462.
- Fitzpatrick, J.W., M. Lammertink, M.D. Luneau, Jr., T.W. Gallagher and K.V. Rosenberg. 2006. Response to comment on Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) persists in continental North America. Science 311: 1555.
- Gallagher, T. 2005. The Grail Bird: Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
- Rosenberg, K. V., R. W. Rohrbaugh, and M. Lammertink. 2005. An overview of Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) sightings in eastern Arkansas in 2004-2005. North American Birds 59: 198-206.
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Progress 01/01/04 to 12/31/04
Outputs
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology (CLO) and The Nature Conservancy of Arkansas (TNC) are working cooperatively to study and inventory the forests of the Mississippi alluvial plain in Arkansas. This area previously supported one of the largest contiguous bottomland forests in North America. Twenty-four million acres of forest once stretched from Memphis, TN southward through Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico. Forest cutting for timber products and clearing for agriculture have reduced the forest in this region to a tiny percentage of its primeval state. In Arkansas, only about 11% of the Mississippi Delta bottomland forest remains. The focus of the work being conducted by CLO and TNC is to inventory and compare the flora and fauna that occur in the remaining secondary bottomland hardwood forests and the more pristine cypress and tupelo forests. For reasons related to land conservation and environmental policy, our work is being compressed into one
intensive field season. This is a monumental effort that involves a high level of cooperation by both organizations. The basic methodology involves deploying teams of field biologists in two primary study areas: the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge near Brinkley and the White River National Wildlife Refuge near St. Charles.
Impacts
To reduce forest cutting for timber products and clearing for agriculture to save bird species in that area.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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