All language subtitles for Extinct or Alive S02E08 Ivory Billed Woodpecker of the Bayou

So I just landed in Tanzania after 20
hours of flying. On my way back to

Zanzibar to look for evidence of the
leopard.

Here with my wife, Jess.

She's annoyed.

And the first thing I do when I get in
is decide to check my email. And it's

really interesting because the first
email that pops up is an email from this

guy named Mike. And he claims to have
evidence of the ongoing existence of an

extinct bird. And not just any bird, the
holy grail of extinct birds. The ivory

-billed woodpecker.

So look at this video.

Boom.

Yeah.

Watch this.

It's definitely a woodpecker. But he
says that he called this bird in by

the only known ivory -billed woodpecker
call on Earth. And no other bird could

respond to that.

Every single year, as many as 2 ,000
species are deemed extinct worldwide.

But the process we use to declare an
animal extinct is an inexact science.

It happens all the time.

Animals are rediscovered that were
thought to be gone forever.

My grandfather discovered a coelacanth
66 million years after it was supposed

be extinct.

I'm Forrest Galante. I'm a wildlife
biologist, and my life's work is

for animals that we've given up on.

On this expedition, I'm attempting what
may be my greatest challenge yet.

Definitive proof of the famously
reclusive ivory -billed woodpecker.

Positively IDing a flying species is
difficult enough.

But we'll also be invading the territory
of endless predators lurking in the

deadly swampland of Louisiana.

This is no bird -watching trip.

I'm going to have to test myself
physically and come up with some

tactics to find if the slew of recent
sightings hold any water. That's insane.

This is Extinct or Alive, the ivory
-billed woodpecker.

Here's a weird thing to say.

Louisiana has always reminded me of my
home in the southern African nation of

Zimbabwe.

There's an abundance of life and energy
like I experienced growing up in the

bush.

And while the people and terrain are
different, one similarity stands out.

Deadly predators.

I grew up knowing they were always
lurking just beyond our daily routine.

And it's no different here in the
American Bayou.

Copperheads. cottonmouths and rattlers,
brown recluse and black widow spiders,

and of course, gators.

Yet people live every day with a respect
for these animals, knowing they're

often within striking distance.

Ironically, these deadly predators may
have unknowingly become the perfect

bodyguard for the holy grail of
birdwatchers everywhere, myself

If the ivory -billed woodpecker is still
alive, The man -eaters that fill the

habitat in the brutal terrain could
explain how it's avoided detection.

At 20 inches tall, with a wingspan of 3
feet, the Ivory -billed woodpecker was

the largest woodpecker in North America.

So large that a mating pair needed 10
square miles for themselves just to find

enough food to survive.

Their supposed extinction is mostly the
result of deforestation, and records

show the last known ivory bill died in
1944.

Jump ahead to 2004, and suddenly dozens
of sightings are reported.

I'm heading straight to the source of
the video I received from a fan of the

show.

The footage is compelling, but it was
filmed in the suburbs, and this bird was

known for being reclusive.

So it's not exactly the area I'd expect
to find one on first glance.

The ivory -billed woodpecker, even when
abundant, is an animal that's next to

impossible to capture footage of. All of
the video evidence that does exist is

basically a black speck darting through
the woods. So the goal on this

expedition is to get something
conclusive to say that the ivory -billed

woodpecker is indeed still down here in
the southern United States.

But I'm excited to meet Mike either way.

He's an avid birder, and he sounds very
convinced.

This is the place where you saw the
bird, right?

Absolutely. It's actually about the size
of a red -tailed hawk. That big?

And one of my friends told me, man, that
could be an ivory -billed woodpecker.

No kidding. So I started researching it
a little bit, and I found the call on

YouTube. So my sophisticated setup was
an iPad and a Bluetooth speaker box.

And as soon as I played it...

I saw a woodpecker coming from the back
of the property, flew to the front of

the property, and landed right there at
that hole. No way. That's the video that

I sent you. And when it flew off, could
you see white on the underside of the

wing? Definitely. Definitely saw white.
100%. Unmistakably saw white.

While famous for its white or ivory
bill, it's actually the white plumage

running along the underwing that most
easily distinguishes it from other

woodpeckers.

And that's what we're looking for.

There's a hole.

But what's really fascinating is at the
top of the tree, it looks like the

bark's been peeled back. You see how
there's that kind of big hole on the

-hand side? Yeah. That is characteristic
of an ivory -billed woodpecker.

A pileated woodpecker drills holes to
get into the grubs, whereas the ivory

-billed would actually peel the bark
back. And if you see at the very top of

that tree, the bark has been peeled
back.

Huh.

Awesome. Yeah.

But it looks like nobody's home today.

Tons of sightings are reported of the
ivory -billed woodpecker, but there is a

very close look -alike woodpecker in the
area called a pileated woodpecker. Now,

the difference between a pileated and an
ivory bill is that the pileated is

slightly smaller, it has dark wings
without white on them, and it has a dark

bill and eye. But aside from those minor
characteristics, it's very hard to tell

the two apart.

Mike said that the first time he saw the
bird, he was sitting back here in his

tree stand hunting, so...

I'm going to go up in it and play the
call the same way he did and just see if

anything responds. Might as well.

The enormous woodpecker with the pure
white bill has become many a birder's

great white whale, celebrated in songs,
on license plates, and with nicknames

like Holy Grail Bird or Elvis in
Feathers.

It's truly reached rock star status.

So much so.

that numerous individuals and nature
conservancies have offered huge cash

rewards for anyone who can prove they've
found a living one.

Dating back to 1935, this is the only
known recording of the ivory bill's

distinct call.

out into the woods, hoping any bird in
the area, any ivory bill, would come in

to investigate.

While I wait for an ivory bill to
respond to my 83 -year -old recording,

team has a camera trained on the nest
over by Mike's house.

Guess who gets lucky first?

Mitch, can Bogey see a woodpecker?

That what?

There's two woodpeckers right here.

Oh, okay.

That's crazy.

They've seen a nest, and they're staring
at two woodpeckers right now. We've got

to go see.

If we found an ivory -billed woodpecker
on day one, the rest of this expedition

is going to be partying in downtown New
Orleans.

Coming up.

I just landed in Louisiana in search of
the ivory -billed woodpecker, and

remarkably, my crew thinks they've
already spotted one.

Oh, yeah, look at him there.

It is really beautiful.

But those are red -bellied woodpeckers.

I had a feeling it was too good to be
true.

We're looking at the much smaller red
-bellied woodpecker.

It's a common breed found all over the U
.S.

Maybe there was an ivory -billed
woodpecker here six months ago, but now

redbelly has clearly taken residence.

But I think that kind of means a dead
end for our lead here, I'm afraid.

Yeah.

Luckily, Mike's video wasn't the only
piece of evidence that brought me to

Louisiana.

This animal is very unknown to science.
It's extremely elusive.

There's really not a harder -to -study
bird in North America.

So today I'm meeting up with Michael
Collins. Now, Michael is arguably the

world's leading authority on the ivory
-billed woodpecker. And on top of that,

he's a naval researcher.

From right here in the Pearl River where
we're meeting, he has what he considers

definitive proof.

of the ongoing existence of the ivory
billed woodpecker and i'm very excited

what he has to show me so 2006

2007 and 2008 those are all different
sightings that you've had right right

so what i'm seeing here is these are
frame grabs from your video And the tree

has these two forks, which made it
possible to scale the image of the tree

a pileated woodpecker specimen mounted
on it.

Michael captured a photo of what he
believes to be an ivory -billed

Being a scientist, he recreated the
photo using the same tree with a stuffed

pileated woodpecker. And lo and behold,
it's clear that the live bird he saw was

larger than a pileated.

A good sign that it could be the ivory
bill.

But this isn't the only sighting you've
had, correct? No, this was my fifth

sighting that week, the sixth sighting
of ten sightings overall.

Fifth sighting that week? Yes, yes.

During my second year of field work, I
didn't have any sightings, and I had to

start thinking of new ideas to find
these birds. And one of the ideas I got

to climb up into these tall trees.

And I noticed up the bayou, it looked
like a very fast -flying bird.

As it just about got underneath, I saw
the white stripes on the back.

Now, I'm guessing with your mathematical
background, you measured the speed at

which this was. Right. It's like 15 .2
meters per second, and the pileated

flight speed ranges between 8 and 11
point something. Four meters per second.

Something on that, yeah.

So you're 100 % convinced that that's an
ivory whale? Absolutely.

Michael has studied this bird for 20
years, and he seems like a credible

witness. So even though the video isn't
definitive, I still want to see the

exact tree where he filmed the large
bird.

It's been estimated that ivory -billed
woodpeckers can live upwards of 30

This was 10 years ago that Michael had
the sighting. So if those birds are

living in that area, around that tree,
that same animal may be captured on our

trail cameras.

Gosh, the bayou is high.

Here's the tree right here. This one
right here? Yep.

Yeah, you're up there. That's, what, 75,
80 feet? 75.

And the bird flew right up here.

So when Michael had his sighting here,
he was 75 feet up in the tree, and the

bird flew by him, you know, beneath him,
six feet off the water.

I don't have the ability to move from
six feet to 75 feet back, but Mitchell

does with the drone.

So the plan is to use the, you know,
evident highway, the only open area

to try and flush a bird out using the
noise of the drone. Really, it's a long

shot, but it's worth doing because we
know 10 years ago there was a bird right

here.

Michael, you want to come see what we
see on the drone? Yeah.

You hear that?

There's a bird already calling an alarm
to the drone.

Beautiful. That's great.

Do you want to go higher? Yep.

Holy smoke.

That's a lot of turkey vultures.

Good God.

There must be a lot of food source for
them out here.

We do a pass with the drone.

Plenty of birds, but no large
woodpeckers.

I did not bring a change of clothes with
me, but I'm not willing to forego this

opportunity to put some trail cameras up
right where Michael had a sighting.

What that means is I'm going to head
into the swamp.

However, I don't really want to get my
only dry pair of clothes with me soaking

wet. So, Mike,

my eyes are up here. Remember that?

Mike, are there alligators in here?

None over 15 feet long. Great.

I'm not getting my boxers wet either,
just so you guys know. I've got to walk

around in this the rest of the day.

Oh,

that is so muddy.

I'm trying hard not to think about
what's squishing between my toes right

Not to mention the unrestricted access
I'm giving to any hungry swamp leeches.

But my goal is to set this camera low,
just six feet off the water, exactly

where the bird was flying on Michael's
video.

So we all know what trail cam... I
definitely thought that was an

the way. But the idea is I'm going to
set these cameras out here.

I'm going to turn them on. They're
motion activated.

And any bird swooping through within
about 25, 30 feet of this camera will be

picked up on this.

When I did this, it was in February.

I'm glad it's not February.

And I am getting out of here.

Michael's research commitment won't
allow him the time to join us for this

expedition. So I'm hoping to take full
advantage of what little time I have

with him. Do you have any kind of advice
as I continue on?

These birds, they don't want to be
anywhere near people. They go into the

remote areas in a habitat, and as soon
as anybody gets near them, they're gone.

The best thing to do is just go further,
get deeper, get away from civilization.

Try to get into the most remote areas
you can and just spend a lot of time

there.

Michael's been looking for the ivory
bill for 20 years, and he still doesn't

have definitive video evidence.

We have a little less time than that.

So my best bet is to take his advice to
the extreme by getting as remote as

possible. And I found just the captain
to take me deep into the bayou. Hey,

Arthur. Ready for your cajun limo?

My plan is to get in further than you've
ever gone, so I hope you're ready for a

long ride.

All right. And then we got another boat
coming for the canoe?

Yeah, to get that boat coming for the
canoe.

Watch yourself, I guess.

I'm settling in for a long ride, but
keeping my eyes open for any places an

ivory bill could be hiding.

The ivory bill was known to live in old
-growth swamps, nesting high in the

cypress trees so they could survey the
large feeding area they needed to

survive.

Trees just like this one. That's an
amazing -looking nesting site. I'd like

climb up and peek in there.

You can see this big hole here in the
side of the tree. It's got an overhang

that looks out over the swamp. I mean,
it's just a perfect nesting site. So my

instinct tells me to go check it out. So
I'm going to climb up there and see

what's up there.

That zap's a little sticky in that tree.

The potential nesting site is about 35
feet off the ground, and my climbing

is on the other boat, which is about 20
minutes behind us.

So much for my fear of heights.

All these branches are dead, too.

This isn't very good for climbing.

Look at this.

Deep in the bayou of Louisiana, I've
just scaled this tall, dying tree to

this nest hole for any clues that could
prove the existence of the allegedly

extinct ivory -billed woodpecker.

Look at this.

Told you I had an instinct for this.

These eggs could have been here for ten
or more years.

Ivory -billed woodpecker eggs are
relatively white in color, and these are

darker, but they could be stained darker
with age.

Sadly, they're old and crushed, but they
look to be between 2 and 3 centimeters

wide.

Look at these.

They're the right size for a big
woodpecker. The plan now would be to

back with me and get them genetically
tested to see if they do match with

-billed woodpecker DNA.

I certainly can't tell from a field look
whether they are or they aren't.

But I can tell you they're the right
size in the right habitat.

We're well past sunset, and we're
running out of passable routes for our

fan boat through this dense swamp.

We'll take the canoes from here, and
guys, get your stuff. We'll look for

somewhere to make camp.

The plan was not to be out here this
late, but we wanted to just go as far as

can. And, you know, this is kind of it.
We bought right up again.

You guys see that? Look at this right
here. Look.

That's insane.

That's an Asian water buffalo.

This is an animal that's 4 ,000 miles
outside of its range. It's an animal

native to Southeast Asia.

An incredible find.

Look at that slate blue color.

Originally from China, the Asian water
buffalo is well adapted to swamp life.

with their short legs and stocky bodies.

And while this loner might be far from
home, there's more than enough for him

eat.

I'm guessing that it belonged to some
private piece of property or a zoo and

Katrina or one of those big hurricanes
came through and just blew it down and

this animal escaped and I guess he's
just living out here on all of this

vegetation.

That's crazy.

The airboat got us about 40 miles from
the nearest human.

Now, the entire crew and I are heading
even deeper into the bayou on canoes to

make camp for the night.

I'm feeling pretty good about the
pristine habitat here. In the morning,

change tactics and work on luring an
ivory bill into me.

This morning, I've got a plan to create
an irresistible lure using an ivory

-billed woodpecker decoy. It's cool,
right? Yeah. That is the exact size of a

male ivory -billed woodpecker.

So here's what I got.

Oh, my God, it's tiny.

Yeah. It's like a spy cam. And it's
motion -activated, so to just trigger

record whatever is there.

Mitch is carving out a small cavity in
our decoy to install the camera,

his knife skills are highly suspect. You
are going to cut yourself.

So other than the now missing chest
cavity, this is very much so what an

-billed woodpecker would look like. You
see the red comb here, that indicates

it's a male. The white going all the way
down the back. If this was a pileated

woodpecker, the white would end here on
the neck, where the name comes from,

ivory bill. You can see the ivory
-colored bill, also unique to this

the light -colored eye. So the idea is
we're going to put that high up in a

tree, where an ivory -billed woodpecker
would be living.

and play a male mating call sound. If
there's a male in the area, he might

in and be aggressive towards the decoy.
If there's a female, she might come in

to attempt to mate with it.

And if that happens, I have this amazing
little camera here, and that'll be

clear, definitive proof of an ivory
-billed woodpecker.

All right.

That looks great.

That's it right there.

The decoy turned out perfectly, and now
I just need to find the perfect tree to

put it in.

I just hit an alligator right here.

These swamplands are so thick with
predators that my oar just brushed

one. Hey Mitch, this looks like a good
spot to climb.

I selected this tree because this whole
area is a cypress swamp that butts up

against... open savannah grasslands, and
a lot of water, what we have is the

ability for sound to travel a lot
further.

So if the sound can travel further, in
theory, an ivory -billed woodpecker can

hear it from further and travel from a
further distance.

Once I get to the top, I'm going to set
out the decoy, and we'll see what we

get.

Okay, climbing up to give it a shot.

All right.

Trunk's so slick here.

Beautiful spot, and I think right here
looks like a good home for an ivory

-billed woodpecker.

Let's go along with him, my acorn
speaker.

The decoyed camera will only record when
it detects motion.

Hit play on that.

And we'll see if anybody comes into
play.

As we head back to camp, I'm keeping my
eyes and ears open for any traces of the

ivory bill, and there are signs we may
not be as far from human influence as I

thought. This looks like trash, but it's
anything but trash.

You can see this jug line.

There's nothing on it.

It runs to a giant hook, a piece of
chicken on it, and this is from a

This is a no -fishing area.

And these hooks do not discriminate.

You know, it's that kind of thing that
led to the woodpecker's demise. People

not caring about the habitat, not paying
attention to laws.

So I'm going to take all of these.

In my search for the most famous
allegedly extinct bird in North America,

ivory -billed woodpecker, I thought I'd
gotten deep enough into the bayou to get

away from human impact.

But as I was destroying some poachers'
bait traps, I spotted something moving

nearby. Look out, look out.

Look, look, look, look, look.

It's an alligator snapping turtle.

This is a huge animal.

And lifting it this way should keep
those powerful jaws away from me while

harming the turtle.

You can see where they get the name
alligator snapping turtle from.

There's three big ridges on the back
here.

Looks just like an alligator.

These turtles frighten the locals more
than the gators do. Because if those

get a hold of your foot, they're keeping
it.

And this animal could easily be 150
years old.

He's about to go over there, end up
eating that chicken, and be killed by a

poacher.

If he stays here, it feels as good as
done.

I'm going to get him out of here.

It's really hard on them when they're
fished.

And these guys have been fished in
Louisiana for decades.

Just a beautiful animal. Look at him.

There we go.

There's a boy.

That's fantastic.

I take the turtle a couple hours
downriver to make sure he's far away

poaching activity.

All right, buddy.

This looks like a much better spot for
you.

Good Lord, you're heavy.

There we go, beauty.

Go on, off you go.

I want to be the last human this guy
sees for the rest of his life.

That's really fantastic.

Hopefully, our vulnerable turtle can go
on to live another hundred years and

make lots more babies.

But now, I've got to get back to the
task at hand, luring in an allegedly

extinct bird.

Time to try something a little
different.

What I want to do is make sure that I'm
in a habitat that has ample prey

for an ivory -billed woodpecker.

So I'm creating...

what's called a bug sheet.

And the idea is by running a big white
bed sheet like this and projecting onto

it some black light, I'm going to create
a light frequency that's irresistible

to nocturnal beetles.

And if there's wood -boring beetles, it
means that I'm in an area that has the

right habitat for ivory -billed
woodpeckers.

Once I see all these beetles, my plan is
to put them into an irresistible

Sue it.

With a specialized bird food, hopefully
I'll get a specialized bird, the ivory

-billed woodpecker.

I'm giving the bug sheep a few hours to
work its magic, and as you can see, the

bedbugs are biting.

Definitely worked.

Big hawkmoths here.

The amazing wing shape that they have
kind of looks like a bird of prey.

But these are the coupe de gras right
here.

This is a longhorn beetle, and these
guys can give you a really good bite.

That's why you hold them back like that.

They really do give you a good bite.

I just breathed one in.

All right, see that right there?

It's a jar full of live woodpecker bait.

Now, to make these truly irresistible to
an ivory bill,

I'm going to have to put my chef skills
to the test.

I have a bunch of ingredients.

First off are my beetles collected from
last night, mealworms, birdseed,

peanut butter, a mixture of oats and
cornmeal, sugar and flour, and the final

ingredient, best found in the South,
lard.

So, welcome to Cooking in the Forest
with Forrest.

Start with our lard.

Lard. My flour and sugar mix.

Hmm.

Now, peanut butter is an awesome high
source of protein and fat for all

And chunky, of course, because if you
like smooth peanut butter, there's

something really wrong with you.

Now, the next thing we want to do is add
in our beetles that we collected last

night. Oop, little biter.

A nice sprinkling of bird seed and
mealworms.

Mealworms are a great source of protein,
not just for animals, but for people.

Millions of people have bird feeders
out, and nobody's ever had an ivory

woodpecker come and visit one. But
nobody has ever made an in -the -bush,

-billed woodpecker targeted bird feeder
using wood -boring beetles.

Go on.

Go on.

How's that?

It's not good.

Well, that cooled and binds up.

I am going to go and get a rotten log,
and then I'm going to make the natural

-looking bird feeders.

I load the suet into some bird feeders
made from fallen log.

That right there is my ivory -billed
woodpecker feeder.

Now all I have to do is make about six
more.

Look right behind you here. There's a
beautiful swamp chestnut tree right

It's the biggest tree around, so this
might be the perfect tree to set some

lines, get the suit up there.

I am no fan of height, so I suggest that
Mitch goes up first to, you know, get

the camera up in the tree to film my
amazing ascent.

Mitch, if you feel any better, you're
barely off the ground.

The tree has holes in it from a
woodpecker.

It's the biggest tree in the area.

I couldn't think of a better ivory
-billed habitat.

Ah, I'm exhausted.

We are right in each other's faces, huh?

All right.

What if I go like that?

There you go, Mitch. No falling now.

Okay, Mitch, why don't you head down?

I think I'm just going to sit up here
and spot until the sun goes down and see

if I catch any glimpses of any
woodpeckers going into the canopy.

Copy that.

Coming up.

Guys,

come and look at this.

That's a woodpecker. Follow it, follow
it, follow it, follow it.

I'm in the Louisiana Bight searching for
the ivory -billed woodpecker, and we

spent eight days laying out over 40
motion -sensing trail cameras, including

decoy woodpecker and my homemade ivory
-billed bird feeders.

Each of these active sites increase our
chance of a sighting, but while I'm out

here in the wild, what I really want to
see is something in the flesh.

He's a bit stinky.

He wants to go.

So we're pushing even deeper.

But the swamp is only getting thicker.

Uh -oh.

And the line between river and bank is
getting blurred.

Watch the head. Watch the head.

It's a big, healthy water moccasin.

Oh, look at that beauty.

But don't let that pretty face fool you.
This is a deadly pit viper, also known

as the cottonmouth. It's the only
venomous water snake in North America.

One bite injects highly toxic venom that
actually destroys tissue, meaning it

often leads to amputations or kills you.

We're truly in no man's land now.

The thick swamp hasn't felt human
footprints in many lifetimes.

I knew this trek was going to be hard,
but having abandoned the fan boats and

now the canoes, it's proving to be
nearly impossible.

It's exactly the kind of environment
expert Michael Collins directed me for.

This is a perfect habitat for the ivory
-billed woodpecker to survive,

undetected by man.

There's a woodpecker right there.

Let's get the drone up.

There he goes.

If we chase after him, I don't think
we're going to see him again, so I want

put the drone up through this clearing.

Just try and follow it, see if we can
get a good shot of it.

I mean, just stay in the treetops.

Just goes to show you why these birds
are so hard to find. I mean, that's a

this big that flew off the stump right
here 40 yards away and instantly

vanishes.

There he is. That's a woodpecker. Follow
it, follow it, follow it, follow it.

Where is that? Do you have a GPS? We are
just under a mile right now.

How's that for a defense system?

Already almost a mile away.

And we'd never know where without the
drone. What direction?

That way.

It's just under a mile away, which in a
swampy terrain like this could be a

couple hours.

I mean, it's soupy, it's very slow
going, but it's not a lead worth

I've started the long trek towards the
woodpecker I spotted, praying that it

stays in that area.

As we trudge through the swamp, my
producer captures a video of something

intriguing on his phone.

Our executive producer, Patrick, gets
this video of a giant woodpecker clear

day. And you can see as the sun hits it,
you see the white bill right there,

which is definitive proof of an ivory
-billed woodpecker.

This sure looks like proof of one of the
most famous allegedly extinct species

on Earth. But further examination
reveals a new detail. As he flies away,

get the wing spread right there. See
that?

And there's no white band on the
underside of the wing.

It is actually a pileated woodpecker.

So what that meant was a bit of sun
flare hit the bill and put off a white

light.

As we saw with Mike Cangalosi, it can be
very easy to convince yourself you've

spotted an ivory bill.

Something to keep in mind as we continue
our slog through the swamp in pursuit

of the woodpecker I spotted.

What do we have here?

Aha!

These guys are really cool.

widespread common turtle. Their name is
a musk turtle, but they get the common

name stinkbot because they let out a
musk that is just absolutely revolting.

Oh yeah, he let off.

That putrid smell is enough to keep any
predator at bay.

Predator just like Mitch over here. Have
a whiff.

Would you eat that?

No. No, I wouldn't eat that either. And
neither would a raccoon or something

when he puts that off.

I'm going to put Stinky back.

Let him continue on.

Coming up.

Definitely the big woodpecker that I saw
on the ground.

Oh, that's pretty interesting.

We are in the Louisiana Bayou.

closing in on a woodpecker that's larger
than any others we've seen on this

expedition.

So we just tracked down this bird, and
it's definitely the big woodpecker that

first spotted and then I saw from the
drone.

He is a giant woodpecker.

But sadly, it's not an ivory bill. It's
just an abnormally large billiard.

The bill is clearly black and no white
band under the wings.

While I do believe there's enough
suitable habitat here to support ivory

I've exhausted all my leads on foot.

So I need to collect all those trail
cameras and see if they've had any more

luck than I have.

I've got all my cameras back, including
my decoy cam.

And I'm going to start looking through
some of the footage.

With nearly 40 trail cameras to review,
this could take some time.

First, our special suet feeder cameras.

Oh, beautiful.

Got a little blackbird here calling.

A lot of blackbirds stopped by, but no
ivory bill.

At least someone appreciated my recipe.

Now to have a look at our woodpecker
cam.

See how that did.

I'm really hoping that this little
camera right here has the proof that

been looking for.

See how we do.

Oh, that's pretty interesting.

So this clip starts with a flash, and
I've got a freeze frame of it right

and all you can see is a belly and a
wing.

And the belly in the wing is clearly
black and white.

The white lining the bottom of the wing
effectively rules out the pileated

woodpecker. What that indicates to me is
something came in and hit this and

attacked it and then flew away.

There's only two things that should
attack an ivory -billed woodpecker.

One is a very large bird of prey, which
this is clearly not based on the wing

structure. The other is a rival ivory
-billed woodpecker.

It's not detailed enough to be
definitive.

But this could possibly be footage of
the Holy Grail bird itself.

I don't know what else would attack a
decoy ivory -billed woodpecker other

an ivory -billed woodpecker.

Habitat destruction has negative
consequences, such as losing a bird that

to live in these forests just because we
cut them down.

I started this search for the ivory
bill.

reflecting on how Louisiana reminds me
of my home in Zimbabwe.

But as we've traveled deeper into the
bayou, my eyes have been opened to an

ecological rebirth like I've never seen
in the world.

There's mammals, possums, raccoons,
gunks, deer, foxes, all kinds of

We've seen dozens of snakes, gators
everywhere you can go. And the skies and

trees are filled with birds and life
here.

I cannot say definitively.

whether or not the ivory -billed
woodpecker is extinct or alive.

We had a flash sighting on our camera.
We heard a call from a distance.

All of these little things, the same
things that Michael Collins has heard

seen over 20 years, inspire hope and
inspire the belief that the ivory

woodpecker is still out here.

I didn't find definitive proof.

But based on the habitat that's making a
huge comeback, Michael Collins

sighting. and just how unbelievably hard
it is to capture evidence of a

reclusive bird.

In my heart, I believe the ivory -billed
woodpecker is still alive, and I hope

the definitive proof is just around the
corner.