Recovery Plan for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker by USFWS

Originally posted 7/18/10 - backdated to organize posts by topic.

Recovery Plan

I thought I'd edit this recent post to announce the release of the Recovery Plan for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.   The direct link to the report is here:

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/100719.pdf

At 168 pages, the report should make for very interesting reading to Ivory-billed Woodpecker, bird and wildlife enthusiasts.  Apparently, you can obtain a hard copy of the report by requesting one from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.


Update
You can find an interesting and thorough discussion of the Recovery Plan over at Ivory-bills Live.  Be sure to read the comments associated with the post at this link, entitled as follows (it's dated July 22, 2010, in case you need that info to find the post):

The Good, the Bad and the Fuzzy...

About the Illustration

The head and bill of a male Ivory-billed Woodpecker appear in this reproduction of a watercolor. The illustration is within the public domain, and it appears in Key to North American Birds, 1903 (5th Edition).  Here is a curious excerpt from that book on the Imperial Woodpecker, and another excerpt on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker:

CAMPE'PHILUS.  IVORY-BILLS.  Containing the largest and most magnificent known Woodpeckers, of several species, peculiar to America.  The Imperial Woodpecker, C. Imperialis, comes in Chihuahua within 50 miles of our border, and will no doubt be found in the mountains of S. Arizona or New Mexico.  It is larger than the Ivory-bill, with no white stripe on the next, and black nasal tufts.  It has been attributed to the U.S., but I have never felt at liberty to use the Key on the lock of futurity. 

IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER.  WHITE-BILLED LOGCOCK.  A large powerful bird of the S. Atlantic and Gulf States, formerly N. to No. Carolina along the coast, to the Ohio river in the interior; range restricted of late years, almost coincident with maritime regions, N. and W. only to portions of S. Car., Ga., Ala., Miss., Ark., and very small part of Texas; still locally common in the dark heavily-wooded swamps, but very wild and wary, difficult to secure.  Nests high in the most inaccessible trees; hole deeps, with oval opening; eggs 3-4, 1.35 X 1.00, in an average, varying moderately, somewhat pointed, highly porcellanous; they are laid early, sometimes even in February, oftenest in March, April, and early in May.

 To find the full book, Key to North American Birds, at Google Books, click here.

A New Book

And from that old book to one that's new and upcoming, we have Ghost Birds: Jim Tanner and the Quest for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 1935–1941 by Stephen Lynn Bales due out in mid-November.

Here's an excerpt from the book description available at UT Press's site:

Drawing on Tanner’s personal journals and written with the cooperation of his widow, Nancy, Ghost Birds recounts, in fascinating detail, the scientist’s dogged quest for the ivory-bill as he chased down leads in eight southern states.

Read the full book description here!