The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service put off a decision about whether ivory-billed woodpeckers are extinct, announcing Wednesday that it's adding six months to review information, including a month of public comment.
"We are aware that there have been surveys or evidence collected recently," Amy Trahan, the agency's expert on the birds, said Wednesday. "This extra time allows them to submit their evidence to consider."
The bird, which also has been called the Lord God bird for the astounded exclamations by people who saw one, has or had a 30-inch (76-centimetre) wingspan, a high, nasal call and a distinctive double knock as it pecks for beetles.
It was among 23 animals the agency said in September 2021 it was planning to declare gone from the earth, removing them from the endangered list.
The agency is still reviewing evidence from two public comment periods about the woodpecker, Trahan said.
In the public comment period the agency is looking for photos or videos so clear that they "can be repeatedly interpreted the same way by independent observers."
Trahan would not comment about what has been submitted or who has made surveys or collected more evidence.
Ornithologist John Fitzpatrick, a former director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, said, "Nobody has gotten that cover-of-Time-magazine foldout that everybody wishes they could. But there is still legitimate believable evidence that these birds still exist in remote locations of Louisiana and Arkansas."
Fitzpatrick, who was lead author of a 2005 study that said the woodpecker had been found in eastern Arkansas, said a non-peer-reviewed paper by respected experts posted on a "preprint" site has some very interesting videos. One shows a group of three large woodpeckers pecking at branches high in a tree.
"The only woodpecker that foraged together in small groups was the ivorybill," he said.
The Wildlife and Fisheries Service announcement in September opened a 60-day period for public comment, and another comment period was opened with a virtual public meeting about the woodpecker in January.
Only one of nine speakers at that meeting supported the proposal to declare the bird extinct. Fitzpatrick was among experts who said the proposal was premature.
"For a species this iconic, this well-known, I think the right approach for them to take is caution," he said Wednesday. "And I think that's what they're doing."
The other 22 animals are still proposed for removal from the endangered list because of extinction. The agency has a year from the September announcement to take final action and has not yet done so.
Israel pounded Iran with a series of airstrikes early Saturday, saying it was targeting military targets in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier this month. Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, though there was no immediate information on damage or casualties.
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Scotiabank has confirmed outages affecting mobile and online banking services, according to a statement published to its X account.
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Polish authorities have arrested four individuals they allege planned to send parcels containing camouflaged explosives and dangerous materials to Canada and the United States, according to Poland鈥檚 government website.
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It's been a long and emotional journey for Manitoba residential school survivor Susan Caribou. Her niece, Tanya Nepinak, has been missing since September 2011 and has never been found.
The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB) has uploaded dozens of dashboard camera videos from the 1970s to their YouTube channel.
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A Canadian navy missile test was aborted mid-flight this week after controllers lost communication with the projectile off the coast of southern California.
A former Alberta teacher has been sentenced to four years for sexually abusing a student.
Russian actors made a widely circulated video falsely depicting mail-in ballots for Donald Trump being destroyed in Pennsylvania, U.S. officials said Friday.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday formally apologized to native Americans for the 'sin' of a government-run boarding school system that for decades forcibly separated children from their parents, calling it a 'blot on American history' in his first presidential visit to Indian Country.
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Chinese hackers targeted cellphones used by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, his running mate, JD Vance, and people associated with the Democratic campaign of Kamala Harris, people familiar with the matter said Friday.
A New Hampshire woman was sentenced Friday to 53 years to life in prison in the death of her 5-year-old son, who was beaten, starved and exposed to drugs before his 19-pound body was found buried in a Massachusetts park in 2021.
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Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Canada strongly condemns a new surge in gang violence in Haiti.
Canada's long-held consensus on immigration is under threat but has not disappeared, the immigration minister said in an interview after announcing a major cut to the number of newcomers to Canada.
Children who have coughs that go on for weeks may have a type of walking pneumonia that鈥檚 been surging in the U.S. this year, and they may need a different antibiotic regimen to treat it, infectious disease experts say.
The number of people infected by the E. coli outbreak tied to McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburgers increased to 75 from 49, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday.
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Phil Lesh, a classically trained violinist and jazz trumpeter who found his true calling reinventing the role of rock bass guitar as a founding member of the Grateful Dead, died Friday at age 84.
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Tom Holland is getting ready to don his Spidey suit again. The fourth installment of the blockbuster series has been set for a July 2026 release, Sony Pictures said Friday.
Natural gas producers in Western Canada have white-knuckled it through months of depressed prices, with the expectation that their fortunes will improve when LNG Canada comes online in the middle of next year.
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The former longtime CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch pleaded not guilty Friday to federal sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges.
Archeologists have uncovered a tiny house in Pompeii that is filled with elaborate 鈥 and sometimes erotic 鈥 frescoes, further revealing the ornate way in which Romans decorated their homes.
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A Toronto man who only recently checked a Lotto 6/49 lottery ticket he bought back in June is now $2.5 million richer.
A Sherpa teenager who's won mountaineering celebrity as the youngest person ever to summit the world's 14 highest peaks called for Sherpas to be recognized as athletes and expedition leaders as well as porters and guides.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored the winning goal 1:26 into overtime, and the Winnipeg Jets remained unbeaten this season with a 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.
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A town in southern Alberta will be one of the first to let golf carts be driven on select roads as part of a provincial pilot program.
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A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.
Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.
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Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.
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The countdown to the arrival of Taylor Swift鈥檚 Eras Tour is on, with three dates planned in Vancouver this December - and some condo owners are looking to cash in on the fan frenzy.
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Ontario Provincial Police are investigating after a body was found in Perth, Ont. Friday afternoon.
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Two minors were in court Friday to face charges after four teenagers were stabbed outside a Montreal high school.
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A former Alberta teacher has been sentenced to four years for sexually abusing a student.
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The GoFundMe page for the family of an employee found dead at a Halifax Walmart last weekend has paused donations after almost $200,000 was raised in roughly 24 hours.
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Manitoba RCMP are providing an update to a crash on Highway 1 that killed one person on Wednesday.
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Residents spotted smoke coming from a waste management site in Waterloo on Friday afternoon.
A Saskatchewan woman is worried her child might die before receiving life-saving surgery and tests as he sits on the province's surgical waitlist.
The Saskatchewan RCMP is releasing the names of two suspects arrested on Thursday for a violent vehicle theft that triggered a widespread police search.
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The Town of Cochrane plans to roll out its $10-lot program in a month or two.
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The federal government is spending a significant amount of money to improve Indigenous student learning across Ontario.
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London police have issued a warning to the public following an increased number of overdoses in the area of Queens Avenue and Adelaide Street North.
The London Knights picked up an overtime win at Canada Life Place Friday night.
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The Windsor Police Service is investigating a suspicious death in south-central Windsor.
A Harrow school is memorializing two students and their mother, who were tragically killed in June.
The Gordie Howe International Bridge will serve as a new crossing for vehicles, but many walkers and cyclists are also excited about the opportunity to access the U.S. in a different way.
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There were tense moments at a ferry terminal outside Victoria, B.C., on Friday after the lion鈥檚 share of standby spots on an early sailing were claimed by 鈥渁ssured loading鈥 passengers 鈥 leaving regular customers who had been waiting for hours out of luck.
Hulitan Early Years Centre is a brand new, 48-seat childhood learning centre in Colwood. It was built to support Indigenous children throughout the capital region.
More than two years after Alannah Brown and Douglas Barker were found dead north of Penticton, police are asking for help identifying a vehicle they believe was associated with the crime.
Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.
A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.
About 15,000 students are enrolled at Lethbridge鈥檚 post-secondary schools, and now the city is working with those schools to try to find ways to get them s to stick around a while.
With Halloween less than a week away, organizations in Lethbridge are preparing to get in on the trick-or-treating fun.
The City of Lethbridge is bringing forward a water conservation policy, the first of its kind for the city.
The union that represents hospital workers across the province is used a symbol from Greek mythology Friday in Espanola to drive home its campaign about the perils of privatization in health care.
CTV's Coats for Kids is nearing the end of its donation window, with the need as strong as it鈥檚 ever been.
The Anishinabek Police Service and the Ontario Provincial Police are investigating the circumstances around a death in Fort William First Nation.
Investigators found the remains of a 77-year-old American man on Wednesday at the scene of a fire that destroyed a hotel in western Newfoundland earlier on the weekend.
Police in western Newfoundland say a 77-year-old man visiting the province from Kansas is missing after a fire at a hotel in Deer Lake, N.L.
At 2 p.m. on Thursday, the scene at the Lions Club in Clarenville, N.L., rivalled any rowdy St. John's bar that thumps with music late on a weekend night.
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