Jan 10, 2022 Ivory billed Woodpecker

Dr. J. Christopher Haney, author of "Woody's Last Laugh" speaks to Sarasota Audubon Society about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker as Trickster and exploring the simmering controversy surrounding this iconic bird.
Is the Ivory-billed woodpecker extinct or not? Listed since 1967 as an endangered species the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to remove this iconic bird and 22 other species from the endangered species list and declare them extinct.
However, the "Lord God Bird" with its prominent beak and 30-inch wingspan continues to attract attention.
Independent searchers especially in Arkansas and Louisiana say they have seen and/or heard it recently: Matt Courtman, head of "Mission Ivorybill", says he has seen them twice--first in 2019--and heard them eight times.
Be sure to check out Dr. Haney's new book Woody’s Last Laugh: How the Extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker Fools Us into Making 53 Thinking Errors Among the first to identify rampant mental errors inside conservation and environmental professions, the book identifies 53 distinct kinds of cognitive blunders, psychological biases, and logical fallacies on both sides of the woodpecker controversy. Few species have ever provoked such social rancor. Why are rumors of its persistence so prevalent, unlike other near or recently extinct animals? Why are we so bad mannered with each other about a mere bird? How is it that we cannot agree even on whether a mere bird is alive or dead? Woody's Last Laugh uncovers why such mysteries so mess with our heads.

[@nathanwebb4836]

I was very happy to hear and see an ivory-billed woodpecker in the summer of 2018. It was in a woodlot next to a lake at Johnny Henderson Park.

[@JA51711]

I am finding many independent researchers and professional researchers documenting hearing and sightings and I definitely think that the ivory bill is not extinct I myself heard it in the early 90s and I may have had a sighting recently

[@AlanRPaine]

This is an interesting subject and I saw another video giving a very detailed analysis of the 2004 Arkansas video pointing out a number of ways in which the images were consistent with an ivory billed woodpecker. But it's not conclusive and if it was still out there it's surprising that no one has managed to get any better pictures. It's perfectly possible that it was still around in 1944 but was extinct in 2004. It's also possible that there were a few surviving individuals in 2004, including the Arkansas one, but none remain today.

[@aurora571000]

Thank you for posting these. We live an hour away and would have difficulty getting there.

[@hcm178]

thank you for sharing! 🕊🪶

[@ransomcoates546]

These theories would at least be semi-plausible were it not for the fact that everyone who became interested in birds as a boy or girl became completely obsessed with and sad about the fate of the Ivory Billed Woodpecker.

[@RodneyBoyd]

Very interesting

[@milesgreb3537]

I find Dr.Haney to be very biased and not all the credible.