I love this article. It was great!

wow! only about a third of the people who commented actually read it. For those of you who didn't. READ THE ARTICLE! If you are so anxious to post a comment, please check your facts before wasting other peoples time by having to filter thru those rediculous comments. The bird is real, the man it is purched on was Tanner's assistant and he has been dead for years.BE MORE PRODUCTIVE WITH ALL THE TIME YOU ARE SPENDING ON THE INTERNET!

My family had hunting land in the old Singer Reserve and we spent many, many days in this swamp. It is wild and beautiful beyond description; stiffling hot and bone chilling cold. I dare say that if a man or bird chose not to be found this would be the place to do so. Does anyone know where Mr. Tanner "camped" at night while the area? May I offer a salute to anyone who spent time there without a camp-house to come to at night.

These photos document more than a fledgling IBWO. Note the date of the photos, the condition of the forest in the background and the clothing of the guide. All reveal that the species "was" a very early nester, possibly fledging its young before spring (vernal equinox) This circumstance has major implications for the prior searches and the common assumption that the birds would be difficult to find when nesting in spring within "leafed-out" forest. Conversely, these images suggest the birds would be foraging and active when nesting in leafless winter woods during the typical survey seasons, yet all such efforts failed to find evidence. I've seen no reference to early nesting by IBWO in association with any of the contemporary search efforts.

As to all these folks who challenge the authenticity of the pictures, I just have to smile at their ignorance... It's sad that James Tanner could not convince the powers that be to do what they had to do to save the last remaining birds... but after what did happen, we probably no longer deserve to see them! I hope that we still do have a chance, but it looks slimmer all the time.

This is amazing. I remember reading Tanner's book when I was a teenager. Although I am sure many would discount it, I was privileged to see one in 1976...

I wish this pesky thing would stay extinct. I have one of these crazy-eyed destructive pterodactyls causing a nuisance around my home. It chases away my song birds and flew off with one of my bird feeders the other day! It also keeps freaking my wife out when it lands on our kitchen window. Trust me, these chicken-sized things are not extinct!

I am so excited! I thought the pics published in the magazine looked fake, then I looked at all of the photos and am convinced they are real. To think that a species may not have crossed the line into extinction is wonderful. The diversity of our planet is one of the things that lends wonder and joy to our lives.

It is obvious that some people did NOT READ the article and only looked at the pictures. Those who commented and said the photo was fake and said things like "why would a bird fly down and perch on a man?" DID NOT READ THE ARTICLE. It is a FLEDGELING! It FELL out. It was FRIGHTENED. Wild babies are taught to FREEZE and STAY MOTIONLESS when in trouble. Please READ and gather your FACTS before commenting. But I know this falls on deaf ears because those idiots who made those commments will never return to this page to see my comment. Sigh.

The photos are all real. These photos were taken in the 1930s for God's sake, when the bird ( although already rare ) still was known to persist in the Singer tract, where these were taken. One of the photos in the series is very famous and was not hidden/lost, but printed in books and on the internet for years. And having known and worked with taxidermists and knowing something about it, I full well know you can't take a mounted specimen and place it in so many poses!! Surely some of you people are off the deep end and need therapy of some sort! A few more brain cells wouldn't hurt either.

I believe the photos are of a live bird given the pupils vary in diameter from photo to photo and the beak's position also moves. And as already pointed out, a "stuffed" bird cannot extend its wings, and the legs and toes cannot be moved without causing considerable damage to the preparation. Fledgeling birds do not behave like their parents; they are not as adept at moving about, especially on the uneven surface of a human shoulder. Given the photos' milieu there is no real reason to believe the photos aren't genuine.

I recently read this article on James Tanner and the Ivory Billed Woodpecker in Smithsonian, and after reading some of these posts, I feel that it is absurd and overly cynical that people would think that his photos were faked or photoshopped. Mr. Tanner, his assistant, and his widow do not seem like the kind of people who would have a reason to do such a thing, and after reviewing the additional photos of the immature woodpecker, I believe that this is the real deal. The only known photographs of an immature Ivory Billed Woodpecker. As for recent sightings- I am hopeful that there are still isolated or surviving populations of these birds (which would make them critically endangered). It is a terrible loss to lose any kind of species forever. I hope that more evidence of these surviving birds can be found in the near future.

The bird sure looks fake, especially the one where it's stradeling his arm. Sure its feet are the same, but I look at my birds moving around their cage and their feet pretty much always look the same. You see some movement of feathers in some of the last pictures in the group. ? We will never know for sure if it was real or not. So the question is, why would a bird land on his back? Because it was there!!!

I have special interest in the Ivory-bill. I have worked for years helping the rare forest eagles, the Harpy, and Philippine Eagles.

The confirmed sightings are enough for me to be excited, and launch my own quest to find the truth about the bird, and maybe my own expeditions to search for it. Remember--- we are the force to help save the planet, we are the only ones that care, and if WE do not act, who will? The land, the wetlands, must be prerserved.

Neil

I am not an ornithologist but I am a graduate (Ph.D.1957) of Cornell. I agree that Cornell is not likely to publish "doctored"photos. However, when I first looked at these pictures I was immediately struck by the likeness of thee photos, especially the beak. I hope Cornell and the Smithsonian will investigate this matter thoroughly and publish the results ASAP.

have had a number of birds and have never had one straddle my arm to perch. also never saw one sit on its tail feathers with legs and talons stretched out....in my opinion you have been duped by an amateur

Karen
I now understand - I probably did not read your comment as carefully as I should have! :-)

The Ivorybill reports were made by credible observers

That's a matter of opinion.

Anyone who knows the history of the Ivory-bill, James Tanner, and the Singer Tract expedition KNOWS these photos of a juvenile bird are real... silly to even debate it. Whether the species still exists somewhere remains a very open question (...except maybe for the few who know they've seen one).

Fake negatives that are supposed to be 70+ years old would be nearly impossible to convincingly produce. Unless Tanner himself perpetrated the hoax, these “new” photos must be - with a high level of certainty - the real thing.

stemginger: Thanks for reading my comment and adding the information about the birds in the Florida Museum.

However, I was referring to the birds that Jim Tanner studied in Louisiana. Mason Spencer shot an ivory-bill in Louisiana in April 1932. Before that time, they had not been documented in Louisiana since 1899.

Consider this (assuming your reading is more widely focused than merely on birds): How many times have we read/heard in the past 40 years, about heretofore unknown or assumed extinct species, discovered in remote nooks and crannies of the sea? Granted, the oceans are larger and in many ways even more inaccessible than the habitat of an Ivory-bill. But pictures now exist of creatures that would once have been considered beyond our imagining. It is pure hubris to state unequivocally that the Ivory-bill no longer exists. After all, scientists have now found a planet which has conditions compatible with the formation of life.
It's a value judgement, but I think it's worth pursuing current proof---especially if it heartens us for the important fight to preserve some habitat. Who knows what other discoveries lie therein, awaiting disclosure?

To those who question the bird based on how it perches:

Have you ever seen any woodpecker perch? Aside from a few species, they simply don't stand like a chicken nor perch like a wren--they are optimized for clinging to the sides of trees. Their toes are different than other birds, making an X pattern.

The Ivory-Bill's closest-looking relative is the Pileated Woodpecker, itself an impressive bird. I've seen several, and they prefer to cling rather than perch. In the only photo I found after a moment's research where the Pileated is perching, it looks quite awkward.

I think these photos are real. On the other hand, the recent sightings, I believe, are of Pileated Woodpeckers. It will take certain proof--clear photos, DNA--to convince me otherwise. Having canoed the Cache River (at about the same time the alleged discovery was being investigated) I have hope. The area is about as wild as one can find these days. But I recognize it is hope and not certainty, and until such proof it is logical to assume extinction.

Two of the last Ivory-bills known to have been collected were shot in 1924 in central Florida and sold to the Florida Museum. They were shot under permit. Sorry Karen the 1899 -1932 is in correct.

Just to comment on the validity of the photos...anyone who has spent enough time with birds can tell after viewing all of the photos, that these are most likely legitimate shots. My background and professional experience are enough to tell me that the bird is real.

Truly devout birdwatchers would not readily disclose the location of surving birds. Those who are experienced ornithologists know enough to protect any surviving species of birds by: 1) Concealing the location and 2) immediately take steps to protect its habitat. Unfortunately as a former wildlife biologist I have found that the two basic requirements are not met with cooperation by the U.S. Forest Service. If there is private land involved the owners must be approached with caution as fear would set in and either the bird or birds (if a pair) would be quietely destroyed for fear of losing their land or property rights once word gets out into the public. Some would harvest standing timber earlier than scheduled due to the same reason. While conservationists can be very skilled at their specialty they also can be very clumsy with their (or lack of it) diplomacy with private landowners and ruin chances of preservation. If anyone suspects the presence of IB woodpeckers they would best work on controlling disturbance in the habitat ASAP.

Shaun, while you raise perhaps a valid point regarding the allocation of limited research $, to compare the Ivorybill sightings with those of bigfoot is not at all persuasive. The Ivorybill reports were made by credible observers of a species known to exist in this century which is obviously not the case with the alleged bigfoot sightings

Shaun's comments are correct. His Bigfoot comparative relates to human behavior traits. The Bigfoot isn't there, but it is seen regularly. One will see what they wish. It doesn't take much. It matters not if the IBWO is extinct. There will ALWAYS be sightings. And, by the way, those "credible" observers got it wrong, so virtually anyone can get it wrong, and they regularly do.

I am a personal friend of Nancy Tanner's and have seen the photos, as well as the film footage taken by Jim Tanner of the Ivory-billed nestling. I assure you that neither these photographs nor the nestling are fake. I can vouch for Mrs. Tanner's integrity and find the mere suggestion of such an accusation utterly absurd. It is unfathomable to me that someone would suggest such nonsense. The nestling did not fledge for another 12 days, so was only about half grown and would not have known how to perch. The film of the nestling is very interesting and can be seen by the public at Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. The fact that Mrs. Tanner found some negatives of the bird years after Dr. Tanner's death is really not unusual either, especially since the newly discovered photos are very similar to the older ones.

There can only be one way to solve this controversy. Go into the swamps and shoot one and bring them out. Easier than photos or video or sightings from experienced birders. And nobody can argue with the carcass of the bird itself, which can easily be examined up close.

That's what happened in 1932. Mason Spencer, an attorney and state representative, was listening to some folks arguing that the bird, which had no documented sighting prior to that since 1899, was extinct. He insisted it was not. He said he would prove it.

He walked into the bayous along the Tensas River near Tallulah and just shot you himself. As the book "Ghost Birds" says, "Until his gunshot brought it down this one ghost bird had been very much alive".

Maybe we just need another Mason Spencer to put an end to this argument once and for all.

The head and feet are NOT the same in each shot. Look more closely at some of the shots later in the series. In some the wings are out, the feet are bent to a higer position, the toes are bent at different angles, the eye and beak are closed in one shot.

A bird that has been "fixed up" by a taxidermist cannot have its wings and "toes" moved like an old stop motion animation character. Look again, folks.

When I look at those pictures, it saddens me greatly how man has caused the extinction of so many precious creatures simply because of his relentless gluttony and greed. What a shame.

Ladies and Gentlemen the Ivory-billed Woodpecker lives. In a very swampy, quiet woods near my home he is safe. Sometimes I can still hear him. On rare occassions, when its very hot, he comes up from below to visit my garden.

There isn't any evidence audio or visual that supports the reported sightings by Cornell. It was simply bad birding and then putting together a lot of bad evidence and pretending that made it good evidence. All creditable authorities have this bird listed as "definitely or probably extinct." Not one "sighting" has any photographic evidence and the video is quite frankly laughable. "When studied in several different ways" the same conclusion is reached that is the null hypothesis and therfore it is impossible to identify the bird as anything other than a bird. Cornell put forwarD faith based science of the worst sort. The conclusion was reach before the "evidence" was examined, observer expectantcy bias sums this up nicely. I recommend the following: THE POSSIBLE IMPACT OF OBSERVER BIAS ON SOME AVIAN RESEARCH BY DAVID F. BALPH and H.CHARLES ROMESBURG.
If the Ivory billed is ever photographered I suspect he will be sitting on the shoulder of bigfoot whilst he is taking tea with Elvis Presley and Lord Lucan! :-) Happy birding from the UK.

An intriguing take on this bird was developed by Russell Hill in his Edgar-nominated novel, THE LORD GOD BIRD, which came out a year ago. It's a novel about an obsessed young man who works hard to spot it. The book received rave reviews by birders and non-birders alike. (Full disclosure: I own the company which published the book. I hope that doesn't deter you from checking it out.)

It is very low for people to comment on things they have no idea...none the less calling these photos hoaxes. I have thoroughly researched the subject, and yes, the photos are in fact true and do not contain a stuffed bird.

The sightings by Cornell are also true. There is good audio evidence. There was a video, which is controversial to many, but when studied in several different ways, the bird captured on it has to be an Ivory-billed. The Ivory-billed is still out there.

i too have been looking for the ivory billed woodpecker.....and long before the announcement from arkansas sightings. i live within a natl forest in louisiana that is ideal habitat if they are still here. i think there is a good chance they are...and i will continue to look for them... i am familiar with the tensas and what was the singer tract and there are old forests still and these birds would be hard to spot in them.....and i sure as heck hope i do .......then maybe some of the forest service"s polocies will change on how they manage "our" woods.....

Aside from normal digital processing, I do not suspect these images were altered, but the selection of which are shown together can make the bird look stiff or lively. I saw one image on another site that appeared to have the neck at a different angle, and the toe position on the right leg is different among the photos on this site.
All 14 images should be available to examine together.

Hello Folks. I have just now been made aware of this article by another family member. For those pondering the authenticity of the find or 'proof of life' I can assure you this young IB Woodpecker was alive. I am the great nephew of the guide J.J. Kuhn. Uncle Jenkins was not only the guide for Mr. Tanner, he was also the Parish Game Warden and a man of absolute integrity. He was also a devoted member of the Audubon Society. I heard the story of this little bird and how it was returned to its nest very much alive many times over the years. Hoaxing just wasn't part of his DNA. I'll gladly defer on the ornithological issues....

I'm sorry. I have to agree w/ Dyolf and Amy. The head/neck angle is the same in every photo, as are the eyes and the beak opening. The legs are never extended and the feet are never grasping. In the 5th photo the bird is straggling his arm? I don't think so. A live bird would never sit in this position. And if it fell into this unlikely position, the wings would be extended for balance, even in an immature bird. Very suspect photos. Maybe that's why they were never published.

I agree its fake.
why would the bird so rare fly down and land on a man? and why would it be sitting on his back? it just doesnt make sense.
and yes the head and feet are the same in each shot

I know the author of the book and Mrs. Tanner, the widow of Mr. Tanner, who took these photos.
Mr. Tanner studied this bird for six years, and lived in the same home for 43 years. It is not impossible to imagine that these photos could be found in his home after years of being in a drawer.
The author studied the journals, kept at Cornell University, for four years. The nestling pictured in the photo had never perched on a branch. It was in its nest and bolted from fear. The researchers took photos while it was on the ground.
Thus, it is awkward perching.
Please look at the appearance of a Pileated Woodpecker and you will see that the profile and eyes remain stately and erect. The Ivory-billed is much the same.
The author is not affiliated with Cornell, and Cornell is not seeking publicity or donations through this work.
I understand the controversy over whether this bird exists or not.
But I am appalled at the cynicism shown by anyone who would basically suggest 1. That Smithsonian Magazine would print an obviously altered or fake image and
2. That the author, who worked for years on this, and Mrs. Tanner would plot to put stuffed birds into a photo, or photoshop birds into fake photos, and have them printed.
These photos are REAL.

Salem S.C. -- Whitewater Lake Ivory billed woodpeckers have always lived here ---- three on the trees going to the lake generally feed at about knee height scare the flip out of You as you walk past the trees You wount see them untill they take off HEARTBEATS !!

To my knowledge, no one has ever questioned the credibility of Tanner's photos or his account of the circumstances under which they were taken. But this skepticism does indicate just how high the evidentiary bar has been set for the "grail bird's" continued existence.

One of the most skilled master birders in Georgia says she saw a female ivorybill in the Wacissa/Aucilla river swamp complex in northwest Florida in the spring of 2007. She has told a few of us, including people who need to know (key state wildlife officials and the formal search teams) but does not otherwise discuss it. She has no interest in having her personal integrity or birding skills held up to public ridicule by the skeptics - some of whom have been remarkably harsh in their ad hominem attacks on the people who claimed to see the bird in Arkansas.

I am told that David Kulivan, the LSU student who made the 1999 Pearl River report, will no longer grant interviews or otherwise discuss his experience.

hello all,

I have been birding since I was a child so many years ago (40+) and I wept when I heard Cornell(a prestigious university especially for ornithology)had discovered an Ivory Bill in the Big Woods.At first I wanted to go but they said stay away so we can do our research.I have had a good life so I donated 5 figures to Nature Conservancy to help save this bird.

5 years have gone by and an Auburn(another great university) stated they found Ivory Bills in the florida panhandle Chocahatchee river.We did go canoe this area but did not find anything.Now Cornell and Auburn both have had little to say about their research and it has left many people wondering.I know the Ivory Billed was seen by experienced birders and the habitat is the nastiest around making it nearly impossible to get to some places.I am also an experienced birder and I still make ID mistakes out in the field.Out in the field trying to ID birds is much much different than iding birds in a classroom.

I am not bitter I donated the money but I do wonder what is/was the truth.Cornell's reputation is mud because it only appears they wanted to sell books.Now these new photos appear and a BOOK is coming out.I agree the photo does look fake and you would be surprised what you can do with photoshop these days.Truthfully I hope (I doubt it though) the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker is still out there laughing at us....

a florida birder

I'm not often skeptical, but these photos seem to depict a stuffed bird. The beak and eyes are the same in each shot. The legs aren't in a perching mode, but rather straddle the arm. The head position is always the same, never tilted.

IMHO that bird looks fake. Why isn't it trying to get away?

Shaun, while you raise perhaps a valid point regarding the allocation of limited research $, to compare the Ivorybill sightings with those of bigfoot is not at all persuasive. The Ivorybill reports were made by credible observers of a species known to exist in this century which is obviously not the case with the alleged bigfoot sightings.

That just proves that Bigfoot is slightly less successful at staying hidden...

There have been more sightings of bigfoot in the last 10 years than of Ivory billed woodpeckers. The controversial 2005 sighting was likely mistaken, and the subsequent ones wishful thinking. A great deal of time and funding has gone down the ivory 'hole', it's time for more productive research.