Scientists Present Audio of Bird Thought Extinct

Scientists released recordings of an ivory-billed woodpecker Wednesday, noting that it sounded as if more than one of the rare birds might live in an Arkansas swamp.

One recording featured a series of nasally sounds characteristic of ivory bills; another captured an apparent exchange of double raps, which might indicate two ivory bills communicating. The recordings, which can be heard at www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory, were played during the American Ornithologists’ Union meeting in Santa Barbara. The woodpecker was thought to be extinct until it was spotted last year for the first time in 60 years.