Birder at Large

The ivory standard

When it comes to the question of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, can there be truth without proof?
Contributed by Pete Dunne
Published: July 1, 2006
Contributing Editor Pete Dunne ponders why it took so long for the existence of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker to come to light and concludes that it is probably more accurate to say the bird's existence has stopped being dismissed than it is to say the woodpecker has been discovered or rediscovered. Skilled birders can correctly identify a bird in the field, Dunne writes. Proof, the realm of science, is ancillary.

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