Comment on "Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) Persists in Continental North America"
David A. Sibley,1*
Louis R. Bevier,2
Michael A. Patten,3
Chris S. Elphick4
We reanalyzed video presented as confirmation that an ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) persists in Arkansas (Fitzpatrick et al., Reports, 3 June 2005, p. 1460). None of the features described as diagnostic of the ivory-billed woodpecker eliminate a normal pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus). Although we support efforts to find and protect ivory-billed woodpeckers, the video evidence does not demonstrate that the species persists in the United States.
1 Post Office Box 1031, Concord, MA 01742, USA.
2 Department of Biology, Colby College, Waterville, ME 04901, USA.
3 Oklahoma Biological Survey, Sutton Avian Research Center and Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA.
4 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 75 North Eagleville Road, U-43, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sibleyart{at}yahoo.com
