KennethV. Rosenberg searcheffort in theregion during the subse- Arkansas(Figure 1). Ihe bird landedon a quenttwelve months. which yielded several tree about20 m in front of his kayak. additionalcontacts with the species. A sum- Ihough he lackedbinoculars, he noticed RonaldW. Rohrbaugh maryof the evidencesupporting the pres- that it looked different from PfleatedWood- enceand identification of thesingle Ivory- pecker(Dryocopus pileatus) and posted a de- billed Woodpeckerhas been published scriptionof the bird which was observed UartjanLammertink (Fitzpatricket al. 2005), and a book that perchedon the sideof a tree--to a website treatsseveral aspects of thesearch and sight- for kayakand canoeenthusiasts. His de- CornellLab of Ornithology ingsis alsoavailable (Gallagher 2005). In scriptionincluded unusually large size, ex- thisarticle, we provideadditional details on tensivewhite on the foldedwing (with an 159Sapsucker Woods Ioad thesight reports of thisspecies, including "oddyellowish" color to the white at its theinitial encounters and additional sight- edges),a light-coloredbill, and a crestshow- Ithaca,New York 14850 ingsthat took place during the subsequent ing somered. He describedthe bird'smove- organizedsearch. We alsobriefly describe mentsas jerky and animated,with a car- the searchtechniques employed during toonishquality.. Shortly after the posting of 2004and 2005 in ourattempt to locatead- this sighting,Mary Scott,who had been ABSTRACT ditionalindividuals, to securesatisfactory searchingfor Ivory-billedWoodpecker in Th•spaper presents the fieldnotes of ob- documentation,and to determinethe extent theWhite River National Wildlife Refuge in serverswho reportedencounters with an ofpotential habitat and feeding areas. Final- southeasternArkansas (and had privately re- Ivory-billedWoodpecker (Campephilus prin- ly, we discussthe implicationsof these porteda personal10 March 2003 sighting of cipalis)in theBayou de View area of Monroe eventsfor birders,including opportunities the speciesthere to the CornellLab of Or- County,Arkansas in February2004 through availableto lookfor Ivory-billed Woodpeck- nithology),passed word of Sparlingõsight- February2005. These notes augment other ers in easternArkansas and elsewhere,as ing to Iim Gallagher,editor of LivingBird publicationson the subjectby presenting well asguidelines and cautions for would-be magazineand a long-timestudent of thelit- sightreports and severalaudio contacts in searchers.Because these reports are likely to eratureon Ivory-billedWoodpecker who greaterdepth. resultin greatlyincreased visitation to the hadbeen searching for the speciesin the regionby birders, wah very real potential to Southeastfor severalyears. Gallagher and INTRODUCTION disturbthis highly endangered species, we colleagueBobby Harrison, an associate pro- A series of events that unfolded in late win- urgeall visitorsto followthe highest stan- fessorof artand photography at Oakwood terand early spring of 2004 suggested that at dardsof birdingethics. Collegein Huntsville,Alabama, agreed to least one Ivory-billed Woodpecker participatein a follow-upof Sparling'sre- (Campephilusprincipalis), a species not pos- Firstfield encounters: February 2004 port,as they had followed up on ScoWsear- itively documentedsince 1948 and feared On l I February2004. at about1400 CST, liersight report in theWhite River area. extinct, was alive in the vast bottomland GeneSparling of Hot Springs,Arkansas ob- Iwo weekslater, on 27 February2004, hardwood forests of the White River serveda largewoodpecker while kayaking thesecond day of theirreconnaissance, Gal- drainageof easternArkansas. Initial sight alongthe Bayoude Viewwithin the Cache lagherand Harrison observed a bird they records,followed by a briefvideo recording RiverNational Wildlife Refugein Monroe identifiedas an Ivory-billedWoodpecker as in April 2004, touched off an extensive County,about 8 km west of Brinkley, it flewacross the main channel of the Bayou 198 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 'PECIAL,ECTI .Ionesboro Blue ARKANSAS Hole I Monroe County Dodson To Lake Stab $ Lake DC Pawpaw E Lake To.••l • , North, To Helena 0 Mile I.k'tleRock Figure1.Locations ofsight reports ofIvory-billed Woodpecker inthe Bayou de View, Cache RiverNational WildlifeRefuge, Monroe County, Arkansas. Sightingsdescribed in the present articlearelabeled withletters Athrough I.A = 11 February 2004;B= 27 February 2004;C= 5 April 2004, D= 6 April 2004, E= 10 April 2004, F= 11April 2004, G= 25 April 2004, H= 14 February2005.The letter 'T'marks aprobable audioencounter withthe species 9November 2004.Possible additional sightingsare marked byan asterisk. MapbyVirginia Maynard. deView at about1315 CST (Figure 1). Both videoobtained in April2004 (see bdow) led in thearea; conclusive documentation of the observerscarefully noted the diagnostic to an expandedcoalition (the Big Woods specieshad not been seen since photographs whitetrailing edge of theupper wing con- ConservationPartnership), which planned presentedby Tanner(1942) dating from trastingsharply with the glossyblack anddirected a large, privately funded search 1935in theSinger Tract of Louisiana,about plumage.The bird was within 0.5 km of the effortalong Bayou de View (in CacheRiver 297km (185mi) awayfrom Bayou de View. siteof the11 February sighting; it appeared NationalWildlife Refuge and adjacent Dag- All sightreports subsequent to those (and tobe wary and could not be relocated. A full marWildlife Management Area), as well as evenphotographic material and audio narrativeaccount of their sighting,along farther south in the White River National recordingsfrom the 1960s and 1970s) had withmany photographs of the search area, WildlifeRefuge, from late autumn through beendismissed or discreditedby ornitholo- appearsin The Grail Bird (Gallagher 2005), the followingspring (November2004 gists,making procurement of physical evi- and their field notesand sketchesare pre- throughApril 2005). Meanwhile, a small denceof paramountimportance. A further sentedin Fitzpatricket al. (2005). crew,including professional videographer goalwas to setin placea conservationstrat- Tim Barksdale,also remained active during egythat included private fundraising to ac- Searchefforts: March 2004-April 2005 the summermonths in the area.This opera- quirecritical habitats and comprehensive Theseinitial sightreports immediately tionwas kept confidential, so thatthe teams planningfor endangeredspecies recovery sparkedthe formation ofa research coalition of biologistscould conduct their studies actions.The findingsof the 2004-2005 betweenthe Cornell Lab of Ornithologyand without disturbanceand so that the wood- searchefforts were presented first to theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Serviceand Arkansasstate the Arkansas Field Office of The Nature peckeror woodpeckersin the area would Conservancy,which over the ensuing three alsoremain relatively undisturbed. The pri- wildlifeagencies on 7 April2005 and to the months(March throughMay 2004) de- marygoal was to documentone or more public,via pressconference, on 28 April ployedteams of fieldbiologists and birders birdsto thesatisfaction of theornithological 2005.The choice for a publicannouncement into the vicinityof thesesight records. A communityand the world at largeand gen- wasmade because it was judged that discre- flurryof additionalsightings and a short erallyto determinethe status of the species tioncould no longerbe maintained,given VOtUME 59 (2005) NUMBER 2 199 theincreasing number of people aware ports3-4 kmsouth of theoriginal sightings of theArkansas sight reports. With the (Figure1), andDavid Luneau secured video- announcementof the findings, we aim tapefootage 25 April 2004 of a largeblack- to stimulate conservation and search and-whitewoodpecker in flight--at a place effortsfor thespecies in Arkansasand verynear the original sight reports (Figure elsewhere. 1). Althoughthe videotape does not show Thefull descriptionof thesdentffic the bird'shead--or the eponymousbill aspectsof the searchfor Ivory-billed (whichhas not yet been clearly observed by Woodpeckerin easternArkansas in anyonereporting the speciesin Arkansasin 2004-2005, including detailed 2004-2005)--wemaintain that the patterns methodologyand descriptionsof the ofblack and white on the back, upperwing, habitatssearched, will be published and underwingare fully consistentwith elsewhere.In short, the methodsused Ivory-billed and not with Pileate& This to searchfor the Ivory-billedWood- videocurrently serves as the only potential peckerwere quite varied and flexible. photographicevidence for the existence of at Searchers in chest waders walked leastone living Ivory-billed Woodpecker, as throughthe bayoukforests of Water presentedin Fitzpatricket al. (2005).A brief Tupelo(Nyssa aquatica) and Baldcy- summaryof thesix sight records considered press(Taxodium distichurn) or navigat- mostunequivocal is alsopresented in Fitz- ed channelsthrough it in canoesor patricket al. (2005).Below we g•ve a more othersmall boats. They also sat quiet- completeaccount of possibledetections of ly--in canoes,on treeplatforms, in Ivory-billedWoodpecker in the region dur- blinds,and on smallareas of dry ing 2004-2005,including some sightings land--watchingand listeningfor toofleeting to be conclusivelydocumented Ivory-billedand otherwoodpeckers. yet nonethelessintriguing. For eachevent, Searchersused camouflaged equip- detailedwritten field noteswere submitted mentand clothing at all times.The de- and videotaped"depositions" of eachob- ploymentof individualsand teamsof server were taken and