Customer Reviews

Ivorybill Hunters: The Search for Proof in a Flooded Wilderness

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think this book needs to be reviewed on two levels: first is this a good, honest, readable book, and then second is their credible evidence for the Ivorybilled woodpecker presented?

Dr. Hill writes in an open manner that makes the account of the search readable. There are stories of alligators, a stolen kayak, and almost being lost in a remote area. I think he is honest in presenting what he thinks he saw and his motives ... I don't think if he was being open, he would state that his group a panther in North Florida (they are not known to occur there). He also is willing to state his motives, even if not completely honorable (to do a better job that the Cornell team and to have a southern team find a southern bird). On this account, it is ironic that he criticized Cornell on their evidence, when he offers little more. In one short chapter, whose purpose seems to increase his own credibility, he dismisses the experience of locals (who had never reported them) as well as the more systematic Florida Breeding Bird Atlas. Hill is quite open about mistakes made and opportunities missed.

As a book (and his published scientific article) that tries to present evidence it is not all that convincing (and he himself states this is not proof). As Carl Sagan said "Extraordinary claims requires extraordinary proof". Although he argues that the Ivorybilled in Florida are different than those that were in the Singer tract, he does not seem willing to accept that Pileated Woodpeckers may have variability in cavity size or behavior. The circle showing the ivory billed on page 232 could be any black and white (however somewhat better images are published on the Auburn web site). The reader is really left with little evidence to examine other than the word of a few good observers. The reader is also left to ponder, whether Hill rushed to publish this book and findings, just as he criticized the Cornell team. For the skeptic there are some nice blogs on the Ivorybill as well as important paper by Jerome Jackson.

I remember hearing news of an ivorybill sighting in 2005, followed up by purported sound recordings of the formerly extinct species and then fleeting video footage. Since then, several research teams and amateur birders have claimed sightings, but none have captured definitive proof of the bird's existence.

Throughout all the debate, excitement, speculation and accusations, two things struck me: First, Nature never fails to surprise, and second, the passions of people also never fail to surprise.

Now we have the story of the (maybe) resurrection of a thought-to-be-lost species by one of its hunters, Professor Geoffrey E. Hill, who was part of a 2005/2006 Florida search team that found tantalizing evidence but no definitive proof of ivorybills in the forests around the Choctawhatchee river.

"Ivorybill Hunters" reads like a good detective novel filled with political intrigue, clashing agendas, and a forest of tantalizing leads, most of which ended up as dead ends. The ivorybill has taken on such a mythic status that one could compare it to another famous bird, the Maltese Falcon, both of which are the stuff on which dreams, and in the case of the ivorybill, reputations and history, are made.

After the discouraging results at relocating (finding) the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Arkansas in 2005 this book is a welcome source of optimistic news. Professor Hill is a good writer and his account of Auburn University's search for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in Florida is a satisfying read not just for the possible good news but also as an enjoyable vicarious adventure into the cypress tupelo forest where the birds may be found.

There may not be the glossy 8x10 picture of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker at its nest cavity yet but read this and you will be encouraged. In addition to the exciting accounts of encounters with Ivory-bills, their drumming and calls, I found the details of foraging sites and the specific Ivory-billed wood peeling method and bill adaptation of interest.

The author and search group have a website and will continue to update sightings there. This book will give you the background on the discovery and exploration of the impressive cypress/tupelo/oak forest along the Choctawhatchee River that may be a refuge of the Ivory-billed and a source for more good news to come.

A very detailed
account of a search for Ivorybills in a north Florida river swamp, which led me to believe that the author and his crew had in fact found a breeding population of these woodpeckers; the author certainly seems convinced of this. Both he and his students seem to have convincing expertise on the identification of this species, although they failed to obtain absolute proof in the form of videos and photos, due to the great difficulties involved and their admitted lack of expertise with cameras. They did obtain many minutes of sound recordings which were quite convincing to outside experts. All in all, a very interesting and encouraging account of a search for these birds in what remains of wild America. I recommend it.

No one was more excited by the possible ivorybill rediscovery than I was back in 2004. When I read that headline, I am quite sure that I jumped a mile out of my seat, and will always remember where I was at the time! But I also believed that any day, within a week, a month, a year, or whatever, some indisputable evidence would be presented, yet sadly this never seems to have occurred. To be sure, in this book Dr. Hill does everything but take us by the hand to the exact place where his team made their sightings, and we are shown various pictures of huge possible nest holes in some trees that conceivably could be the work of ivorybills. But the general public, as well as people like myself who, quite frankly, have only dreamed of seeing that bird for their entire lives without daring to believe it might be possible, deserve a little more convincing evidence than just word of mouth to keep their hopes alive for the bird's possible survival.

Die-hard fans of this flamboyant bird, myself included, can just never quite relinquish the romantic hope of being able to walk into a patch of the bird's swampy forest habitat one quiet evening, and to encounter one of these creatures, gazing balefully down with its big yellow eyes from its perch high up on a moss-draped branch of a giant baldcypress tree. However, it is important to realize that this species has, or had, some strict habitat requirements that were seriously compromised when its primeval forest home was literally cut out from under it. The chances that this species has actually managed to survive are therefore extremely slim at best, and the burden of proof is on those who claim they have actually seen it. The rest of us need to either move on or finally have some real cause for hope.

Alas, life is not like a reality show, and we can't always have the happy ending we crave. Unfortunately, Dr. Hill and his team are making sightings that no other person has yet been able to independently corroborate. I don't think they are deliberately trying to mislead anyone, but rather they probably want so badly to see ivorybills that they think they are seeing them when they are really seeing pileateds, anhingas, ibises, wood ducks, or whatever, flashing by at dusk in the dim light of the forest, and believing they spotted something that was not really there, except in their fondest hopes and dreams!

I liked the book somewhat because I felt that it was an honest attempt to locate a population of these birds, but feel vaguely frustrated at the apparent failure of the author and his team to present any real, indisputable proof. I was left feeling quite baffled by some of their assumptions about what they were really seeing, yet a little curious too. Somehow I find their conclusions difficult to believe, yet secretly hope they might be right! If you want an interesting read about their research, check out this book, but you will probably be left with similar feelings.

I was very pleased with this book and I found it most informative. I have always believed that it will be either hunters or other outdoors people who will document this bird's continued existence. It was also nice to see that someone was searching in Florida. Florida and the Big Thicket in Texas strike me as two promising areas. As a kayaker myself I can only imagine the exhiliration of seeing one of these birds in the wild.

I BOUGHT THIS BOOK FOR MY HUSBAND (TED), WHO HAS GONE ON TWO GREAT ADVENTURES LOOKING FOR THIS MYSTERY BIRD, ONCE IN ARK. AND ONCE IN FL.
TED SAID THE BOOK WAS A STEP BY STEP TAIL OF WHAT HE AND HIS FRIEND
(GREG)EXPERIENCED,SAME LOCATION (IN FLORIDA).ALTHOUGH GREG HEARD THE BIRD HE NEVER SAW IT.
I AM SO SURE THERE WILL BE ANOTHER ADVENTURE SOME WHERE IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
JEAN/DEVOTED WIFE

This is an incredible account of an ongoing story that is still alive even now. The implication af the rediscovery of the Ivorybill Woodpecker is unparalleled in conservation history and this account is most exciting!!