Researchers have used modeling to determine that the ivory-billed woodpecker could have survived the unchecked deforestation of the first half of the 20th century, so there is hope for the species survival into modern times. From Science Daily:

Mattsson, a former doctoral student working with Cooper, took the lead on the modeling project by constructing the population model and conducting the analysis. Based on information gleaned from the literature and unpublished sources on closely-related species of woodpeckers, Mattsson considered plausible ranges of initial population size, reproduction rates and adult survival rates to play games of “what if” with simulated woodpecker populations. What he found was that as few as five breeding pairs of these large woodpeckers could have ensured the persistence of ivory-billed woodpeckers in wooded swamps of the southeastern U.S. to this day.

He said his model is not meant to prove their existence, but “it gives people involved with the research team hope that they’re still out there,” and shows that sufficient levels of reproduction and survival are as important, if not more important, than large numbers of individuals for ensuring persistence of the species.

Cooper said that initially it was thought that the ivory-billed woodpeckers had a very small chance of persisting through modern times, but he believes Mattsson’s analysis shows that the probability is larger than originally suspected.

Conroy is optimistic about implications from their findings for similar species thought to have blinked out of existence.

The search of the ivory-billed woodpecker continues. From The Huntsville Times - al.com:

[T]he biologist and others recorded 52 minutes of a distinctive bird call they believe was an ivory-billed woodpecker. And, as they tracked it to a certain tree, a big black-and-white bird took off – again, before they could see the distinctive wing markings or red on its head.

The sounds they captured are of the bird’s “kent” call, which sounds a bit like “kent, kent, kent” and has also been likened to the tooting of a child’s toy horn, Harrison said. “I believe this is a recording of an ivory-bill foraging.”

There is only one unquestioned recording of an ivory-bill call and that’s from 1935, he said. It is of two birds obviously distressed by the presence of people near their nests.

“We have no idea what an ivory-bill sounds like under calm conditions, other than from the written record,” he said.

For Harrison, these kinds of experiences are frustrating fuel for the fire.

“I believe the birds are still there,” he said. “The April encounter certainly gives me hope the ivory-bills are still there.

“If it wasn’t an ivory-bill, I have no idea what other bird it could be.”

Some believe the ivory-billed woodpecker still survives in Florida. From The Ledger, FL:

A team of Auburn University scientists claim to have discovered a small population of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers along the Choctawhatchee River in the Florida Panhandle.

However, the Florida Ornithological Society’s Records Committee is holding out for more definitive documentation. The committee is the official word on whether sightings of unusual birds in Florida are well-documented enough to be valid. The committee’s report including comments on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker report was contained in the latest issue of Florida Field Naturalist, the official journal of FOS, of which I am a member

Image credit: James T. Tanner/Courtesy of Nancy Tanner and Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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