Posted on 08/01/2005 6:28:32 PM PDT by Altair333
I have seen Pileated Woodpeckers up close and personal as they ate huckleberries on a Redwood stump ten feet from my garage and they most certainly do have white on their wings! I have my Sibley's open to that page and there is a white wing bar and lots of white under the wings...
I wonder how Ivory billed woodpeckers should be cooked.
I would guess that if you fry them in beer batter they would taste a lot like chicken.
My bad...I see the Ivory billed has lots of white on the wings...
(We're old, huh?)
But they can still love each other! < /BARF>"
And as Jerry Seinfeld would say... "Not that there's anything wrong with that..." (smirk)
Maybe they'll migrate to Massachusetts, marry, and adopt.
That HAS happened. The last time an Ivory Billed woodpecker was spotted in Florida, it was shot by specimen collectors.
Pileated don't have ivory bills.
"ALSO EXPLAIN TO ME HOW THIS BIRD HAS BEEN ABLE TO STAY UNDERCOVER FOR THE LAST 65 PLUS YEARS."
Maybe it hasn't. Any number of people could have seen one over the years and not known what it was, or not have mentioned it to anyone outside of their own circle of acquaintances. My husband and I go fishing in a wildlife refuge, as do some of our friends. My husband and I saw a mother bear and her cub there this year...once. In all of the years our friends have been going there, they have never seen a bear. Just because someone didn't see it doesn't mean it wasn't there.
My daughter dryly says that probably the reason it survives is because it has managed to find a place to stay away from man, so he would think it was extinct.
I was going to ask when they were in season.
I follow birds of prey mostly but for me, this is like finding a T-Rex. People that know nothing of wildlife/birds/rarity just don't understand what an incredible discovery this is.
It still seems impossible with the technology and mobility we have had for the last 50 years that the IBW was never confirmed during that time span.
I bet it tasted like chicken.
I'm still looking for Big Foot...
The Moa looks like an over sized Emu. I wonder if they taste like chicken too.
I can't wait for them to discover a Thunderbird. They are supposed to be really rare and rather large birds.
I agree completely. As a life-long birder, I have to say that I am elated at the news that the Ivory Bill may still be with us.
I'd love to see one on my property - but I suppose I'll have to just put up with these delightful little puny hummingbirds and bluebirds for now :)
Actually there have been a number of sightings over the years but all were written off as mistaken identifications, etc.
As I recall, the Ivory Bill tended to hang out in remote swamps and was pretty reclusive. However, it was a fairly large bird, and should stick out. And it's been my experience that one tends to know where woodpeckers are active from a good distance.
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