HI ALL:
I thought someone might be interested in this!

Ian Paulsen
Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
ipaulsen at krl.org
A.K.A.: "Birdbooker"
"Rallidae all the way"

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2002 11:54:54 -0800
From: Jim Williams <twojays at SIRENTEL.NET>
To: BIRDCHAT at listserv.arizona.edu
Subject: [BIRDCHAT] report on hunt for Ivory-billed Woodpecker

Forward by Jim Williams
Webster, Wisconsin
twojays at sirentel.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Shannon Jackson (804) 343-3608 ssjpr at msn.com

The 30-Day Zeiss Search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Ends

Search Team Presents Photos of Large Tree Cavities, Bark Scaling and a
Recording of a Series of Loud Signal Taps, But No Conclusive Proof of the
Ivorybill's Existence

Slidell, La., February 20, 2002 -- Zeiss Sports Optics, a leading
manufacturer of high-quality sports optics, today announced that the 30-day
search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in southeastern Louisiana ended on
February 18, 2002 without a sighting of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Four of
the six members of this international search team did hear a series of loud
signal taps at 3:30 p.m. on January 27, the eleventh day of the search.
They heard four double raps, separated by 20-30 seconds, followed by a
single rap, which was followed by four consecutive raps. The fourth double
rap and the subsequent raps were recorded onto digital audiotape using a
parabolic microphone. This recording can be heard on the Zeiss Web site at
http://www.zeiss.com.

The searchers marked their location with global positioning system units
(GPS units) when they heard the sound but were unable to move closer because
of high water in the area. They chose not to share news of this recording
at the time, convinced that they could eventually find the bird making these
sounds. After days of scouring this area, they were never able to locate
the source of the sound.

"The goal of this search was to find the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and
photograph it. We did not see an Ivory-billed Woodpecker, but we found
potential evidence of its presence in the Louisiana Department of Wildlife
and Fisheries Pearl River Wildlife Management Area," said the Zeiss Search
Team in a joint statement.

Remarkably, the search team later learned that at 10:30 on the same morning
they obtained their recording, a team from Cornell University also heard one
double rap 1.3 km from the recording site. While searching for the source of
the sound, the Cornell team saw one Pileated Woodpecker and one unidentified
large woodpecker involved in a chase high in the trees, then flying off.

"Having heard one clear example of this unusual double-rap ourselves,
earlier that same day and in an area not too distant from where the Zeiss
team was searching, we remain quite intrigued to discover its source," said
Dr. John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "Neither
we nor the Zeiss team ever heard Pileated Woodpeckers giving this display
during many days in the field, yet Pileateds were the only large woodpeckers
we could locate near where we'd heard these double-raps. We cannot rule out
that these could have been displays by Pileateds, but if they were, it would
be strange that we heard the sounds only on that particular day, in that
particular place."

After hearing the search team's recording, Dr. Van Remsen, an ornithologist
at Louisiana State University and curator of ornithology at its Museum of
Natural Science, said, "Having listened to Pileated drumming many times,
Martjan's recording sent a chill down my spine, literally. For the last 12
years, I have been around Pileated Woodpeckers nearly daily where I live,
but I have never heard them make a sound that came close to this in terms of
both power and rhythm. I would have given almost anything to have seen what
was making that sound. I agree with the Search Team, however, in regarding
it as insufficient proof of the bird's existence."

Throughout the search, the Zeiss team discovered concentrations of tree bark
scaling, the primary method used by Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in foraging for
food (but also used to a lesser extent by Pileateds). On January 29, two
days after the team made the recording, one team member heard a double rap,
and then two team members heard several loud raps, similar to the sounds
previously recorded. Team members found concentrations of extensive bark
scaling, plus several large, fresh cavity starts and large, older cavities
in the area where the sounds were recorded. (Photos of these trees can be
seen on the Zeiss Web site.)

The search team covered thousands of acres in both the Pearl River Wildlife
Management Area and the adjacent Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge to
the north. They covered the territory on foot and by boat, equipped with
Zeiss binoculars, digital video cameras, GPS units and waterproof field
books to record bird and habitat data for the Louisiana Department of
Wildlife and Fisheries.

Although the six Zeiss searchers have ended their expedition, the Cornell
Lab of Ornithology's Acoustic Recording Units (ARUs) will remain in the
field until mid-March when Dr. John Fitzpatrick and his team take them back
to Cornell for analysis. Dr. Fitzpatrick anticipates releasing Cornell's
findings sometime in April.

"We are most appreciative of the searchers' dedication to this project.
They have done a great job covering what turned out to be very challenging
terrain," said Anthony R. Cataldo, vice president and general manager, Zeiss
Sports Optics North America. "We now look forward to hearing of Cornell's
findings once Dr. Fitzpatrick and his team listen to their recordings, and
we will determine what our next steps are at that time."

About the Search: This project was possible only through the extensive
cooperation between Zeiss Sports Optics, the Louisiana Department of
Wildlife and Fisheries, the Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Louisiana State University, and Cornell University.

The six members of the Zeiss Search Team include: Rick Knight, Martjan
Lammertink, David Luneau , Peter McBride, Alison Styring and Alan
Wormington. For additional information on the searchers or to access the
Search Team's extensive report, see photos of bark scaling, hear the sound
recording and read each searcher's individual opinion of the expedition and
possible existence of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, visit the Zeiss Web site
at http://www.zeiss.com.

About Zeiss: For more than 156 years, Carl Zeiss has maintained a reputation
for leading the evolution of optics to the high-tech precision that
outdoorsmen know today. Headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany, the company is
a world-renown manufacturer of optics. Zeiss pioneered the development of
binoculars in 1894 and continued to build on its strength as an innovator by
introducing the world's first roof prism binocular in 1897 and inventing
anti-reflection coating in 1935. The North American headquarters for the
distribution of Zeiss sports optics is located in Chester, Virginia. ###

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