Benjamin E. Leese
Benjamin E. Leese
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Microbiologist by trade.
Ornithologist by passion.
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I run a microbiology lab in a paper mill to test specialized filtration media for water purifcation. When I am not doing that, I am probably in my garden, at a baseball game, or trying to track down historical records of extinct birds.
Research Interests
I have written a series of manuscripts outlining historical records of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker north of its assumed southern range. I have uncovered records in Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. The species appears on the list for Indiana because of my research.​
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I just finished an updated list of specimens of the Imperial Woodpecker, alongside a variety of wonderful colleagues. And I am also preparing a manuscript outlining more than 100 new records of the Carolina Parakeet that I have uncovered.
Recent
Publications
Additional Nineteenth Century Records for Ivory-billed Woodpecker
(Campephilus principalis) in South Carolina. Chat 88.22-23.
Response to K. Ohkawara et al.: Anting behavior in birds: the behavioral
patterns and the interactions with ants in the subgenus Dendrolasius of the genus Lasius. Journal of Ornithology 165: 287–288.
The Possible Location of Marlow’s Landing and its Carolina Parakeet
(Conuropsis Carolinensis) Specimens, Florida Field Naturalist 51(4):111-118.
“Additions and updates to the list of specimens of the Imperial Woodpecker
Campephilus imperialis (Gould, 1832), including genetic analysis of a
putative clutch of eggs,” Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 142 (4),
491-508, https://doi.org/10.25226/bboc.v142i4.2022.a9 With
Lars Erik Johannessen, Audun Schrøder-Nielsen, JiÅ™í Mlíkovský, Don
Gorney, Leon Schreffler & Jane Schreffler
“Clarification of the Location of John Eatton Le Conte’s Observation of
Carolina Parakeets (Conuropsis carolinensis) in Georgia,” Oriole 85:17-20.
“Historical Status of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Virginia,”
Raven 91:4-9, 2020. With Mark A. Michaels.
“Specimens and Eggs of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Camephilus imperialis)
Purportedly from the Carolinas,” Chat 83:108-109, 2019.
“Historical Status of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis
In Ohio,” Ohio Cardinal 29(4):181-188, 2006.
“Scarlet Scalps and Ivory Bills: Native American Uses of the Ivory-billed
Woodpecker,” Passenger Pigeon 68(3):213-225, 2006.