Find this woodpecker ... Win $50,000?
Last Updated on 5/30/2012
Published on 2/26/2009
By Clayton Stairs
cstairs@gtowntimes.com
Hunters and fishermen in South Carolina swamplands are most likely to see an elusive bird once thought to be extinct, wildlife experts say.
Clear pictures or video evidence of this bird -- the Ivory-billed Woodpecker -- is worth $50,000 if it leads officials to a live bird.
Some say that evidence is worth a lot more.
David Jones of Ridgeland, S.C., a bird expert who has been searching for the bird for 40 years, is one of those.
"If a picture of this bird is picked up by a magazine like National Geographic, Science, or Smithsonian, $50,000 would be a drop in the bucket," Jones said.
Very Rare
He says the bird -- the largest woodpecker in the U.S. (at about 19 inches in length) with distinct white and black markings -- does exist. But it is extremely rare.
Although there have been credible sightings by several researchers in Arkansas, Florida and here in South Carolina, including one last month in Congaree National Park, none of them have resulted in definitive evidence.
The bird used to be seen in areas around the Savannah, Santee, Black, Waccamaw and Pee Dee rivers.
Researcher Allan Mueller spotted the bird in Arkansas in May 2007 and although he had a video camera running, he did not get a good shot of it.
"It flew out over a lighted patch over a lake and got a good look at the white on the trailing edge of its wing. But by the time I aimed the video camera at it, it was gone," Mueller said.
Common mistakes
Richard Lyttle, another researcher involved in the search, said it is important for people to correctly identify the markings on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker before submitting evidence.
The Ivory-billed Woodpecker is often mistaken for the Pileated Woodpecker, which is also a black and white bird.
It is also slightly smaller with striped white markings instead of solid ones.
Another difference is that the Ivory-billed woodpecker is only found in deep woods and swamp areas and the Pileated woodpecker is a common backyard bird.
Conservation
If scientists find evidence that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is alive today, it could mean a lot for conservation of forest areas.
Lyttle said because the Ivory-billed woodpecker relies on old growth trees for its main food source, places where it is found will need to be protected.
"We need to save old growth forest areas," Lyttle said. "They are being cleared at an alarming rate."
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Anyone with information leading to the safe location of a living Ivory-billed Woodpecker should call Allan Mueller at 501-614-5092 or 800-440-1447.
For more information about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Web site at www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/.
