Ivory-Billed Woodpecker?

ARBORETUM has raised this subject before and, we hope, we will again. America's greatest woodpecker deserves the attention of bird-lovers, and is getting it!

This winter there have been searches in four or five states for the ivory-billed woodpecker. In recent years, there have been reports that this bird, once said to be extinct, is still around in some of the deepest recesses of the southern wilderness which still remain.

In Texas this winter, there has been an extensive search of areas in Big Thicket National Reserve. Hurricane Rita had knocked down many trees and cluttered the wilderness areas, making these searches more difficult. On the other hand, downed trees will provide more food for the IBW, which feeds (what tense should I use?) on insect larvae.




So far, no new news has been reported to substantiate claims of the bird's existence. The controversy among birders and scientists -- it seems to me -- has two dimensions. One of the dimensions concerns "claims." Here, folks argue over the evidence collected so far. There is a piece of tape showing a bird which might be an ivory-billed woodpecker, made in 2004 in Arkansas. There is also an audio tape which might be the sounds of an IBW in Florida. Experts disagree about the validity of both.

One of Ornithology's most prestigious authorities, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology ( CLICK HERE ) defends evidence tending to show that the IBW is still extant.

Then there is "faith." It does seem that there are those who want to believe the bird has survived mankind, and those who have little faith that it could be so. Despite attacks from skeptics, the Houston Audubon Society, for one, proclaims its certainty. ( CLICK FOR H.A.S. STATEMENT)

The National Fish and Wildlife Service continues to sponsor searches for the bird and has provided a question-answer fact sheet for inquiring minds such as yours. ( PDF Format Q-A )

ARBORETUM continues to watch the debate.

Here is the most recent Associated Press report on the search and the debate: A.P. CLICK

GOOSE UPDATE: BREAKING NEWS: (I mean, really breaking) -- Chicago whacking eggs.

Mar 21, 2007 7:24 am US/Pacific
Chicago Goes On Wild Goose Egg Chase

City Parks Begin New Population Control Program
Volunteers Hunt Eggs, Goose Management Co. Shakes Them

(AP) CHICAGO The city needs a flock of volunteers - for goose egg patrol.
Chicago-area park district officials are enlisting people to help locate nests of goose eggs as part of an expanded program aimed at downsizing the population of the aggressive park-fouling birds.

The patrols will search 11 city parks for goose eggs during the birds' nesting season, which begins at the end of the month and lasts through April.

The volunteers will be taught about geese habitats and life cycles, but they won't be allowed to handle the eggs. That task will be reserved for employees of La Grange-based Wild Goose Chase, who will shake the eggs to destroy the embryo or coat them with corn oil to suffocate the developing chick.

"I can't stress enough, this is not an Easter egg hunt," said Susan Hagberg, president of Wild Goose Chase. "This is very regulated. If people think they can do this on their own, they can't."

Park officials have tried to control the flocks by planting grasses less attractive to the birds along lagoons, spraying digestive irritants on grass in Grant Park, and using border collies to drive migrating geese away in the fall.

The Humane Society of the United States supports the egg hunting method, said spokeswoman Diane Webber.

"It's much more humane than rounding up the geese and gassing them," she said.

CANADA GEESE

Nearly everyone in Michigan has put their foot in it at some time. Goose droppings.

The Giant Canada Geese are the culprits. They seem to be without number, and they poop freely wherever they go. This is not nice poop, it is vile. (Actually, there are about 187,000 est., Canada Geese in Michigan.)

In the JACK PINE WARBLER, a publication of the Michigan Audubon Society (March/April 2007), the problem of the big nuisance is discussed. One theme of this story is that we the people are inviting these birds into our lives when they ought to be off somewhere minding their own business.

Here's how we do it: We build ponds and then plant near them, the sort of flora the geese like.

Not only that, within the confines of backyards, golf courses, and municipal ponds, the geese are safe from their predators: fox, bobcats, coyotes, and hunters.

Too, grammas, bird lovers and little kids with popcorn like to feed them .

Here are some suggestions from the DNR and Audubon:

1. Build barriers (fences, hedges, etc.) between ponds and grassy areas. Three foot high barriers are enough.

2. Don't ever feed them. Try to deny them sources of food.

3. Hunt them.

4. Apply repellants to grassy areas.

5. Train a dog to chase them. Of course, dogs add a new problem.

No one, least of all, the DNR or the Audubon Society, wants to wipe them out. But, they can be discouraged from areas where they are a nuisance. It's not an easy problem, and as Audubon says: if you find you have a small problem and don't deal with it, you'll discover that you have a very big problem.