My take is this:

Cornell seems to be very parochial in their strategy for
information sharing and taking credit.  They never shared any
sightings reported to them from non-Cornell-team birders whose
data seemed convincing.  They mentioned that there were three
such sightings, and that was it - no locations, observer, or
assessment of validity.  Cornell is not a very altruistic team
player.

Auburn would be wise not to involve Cornell, and to take credit
for their own independent work.

Bill Ellis
IBWO seen 7/28/05 - Pine Bluff, AR

-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Jim Wilson
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 6:52 PM
To: 
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Ivory billed woodpecker and Hmmm


I was also puzzled over the lack of involvement by Cornell.  The
one
website had this quote:

   "They asked Dr. Dan Mennill to join the search and conduct
sound
monitoring in the area. Dan had just completed a postdoc in Geoff
’s
ornithology lab and was starting as an assistant professor at the
University of Windsor in Ontario.  Dan devised a means to
remotely record
sounds, and he constructed seven listening stations that were
deployed in
the area of the ivorybill sightings."

Cornell is probably the world leader in recording bird and animal
sounds
plus they had devised equipment for the search in Arkansas.  It
seems
almost bizarre to go to someone else, although Dr. Mennill was
probably
aware of what and how Cornell had done their ivory bill
recording.

We can speculate forever but the politics of competitive
ornithology may
be beyond the understanding of mere mortals such as us.

Jim Wilson
Queenstown