Ivory-billed woodpecker recordings made

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
www.birds.cornell.edu.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International