Ivory-billed woodpecker recordings made

Space & Earth science

Researchers say more than 18,000 hours of recordings from eastern Arkansas forests contain further evidence of the existence of ivory-billed woodpeckers.

Researchers from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University said the sounds -- including the legendary bird's distinctive double knock -- were recorded in the same area where the species was rediscovered in 2004.

"I immediately felt a thrill of excitement the first time I heard that recording," said Russell Charif, a bioacoustics researcher at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "It is the best tangible evidence so far that there could be more than one ivory-bill in the area."

Whether more than one bird exists is still undetermined, but quantitative analyses of the sounds indicate a high probability they were made by ivory-billed woodpeckers.

The Cornell researchers announced the recordings Wednesday, during the annual meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union in Santa Barbara, Calif.

The sounds can be heard at
http://www.birds.cornell.edu.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International

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