I just read a short article in the latest "Science News" (June 30 '07) about West Nile Virus and its impact on wild birds. So I am wondering if the last few Ivory-billed Woodpeckers have been "done in" by disease, especially West Nile. If crows are targeted by mosquitos, I would imagine that Ivory-bills would makke an inviting target too.

There is a suspicion that the Carolina Parakeet was finished off by imported mosquito-borne disease.

Phil Hotlen
Bellingham, WA
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: ". KDB ." <buhrdz at hotmail.com>
> Hello, since I am a local guy who spent 2 stints searching for Ivory-billed
> Woodpeckers, I figured I owed at least a brief synopsis.
> In 2006 I was in Arkansas, at the heart of things. I found the white
> Pileated that got press.
> I heard exceedingly interesting "kent" calls.
> In 2007 I was in the Congaree in South Carolina, perhaps the most hopeful
> spot of all for the Ivory-bill's continued existence.
> I found hugely "interesting cavities".
> Long story short.... I searched hard all day, everyday. I have immersed
> myself in Ivory-billed literature, I have absorbed everything I could while
> privy to the confidential information; I believe a horrible mistake has been
> made.
> The "proof" video to me quite, quite obviously shows a Pileated.
> I will continue to search my heart out, but I have no confidence at all that
> the Ivory-billed Woodpecker persists in North America.
> I was so excited. The opposite is true now.
> Keith Brady
> Olympia, Washington
>
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