US Rediscovery of a species thought to be extinct

Network News last week reported an announcement at the Department of the Interior complete with 3 seconds of film of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, last confirmed and official sighting in 1944. The sighting occurred in the Cache River NWR in Arkansas.

The species, heavily hunted until the 1930's for its plumage, was thought eliminated by logging of its habitat through the wetlands of the deep South. It is the largest species of woodpecker in the world (if memory serves), with an adult wingspan from 30 to 36 inches broad. It is a spectacular bird in black with very large areas of white and a bright red crest. It used to be called the Ghost of the Bayou because of its enormous size, substantial areas of white, and its silent approach. The old film footage shows a bird that bears a striking resemblance to a pterodactyl, with the long pointed bill and crest like a weathervane and broad wings, only the feathers make it different.

http://birds.cornell.edu/ivory/ video requires Quicktime.

The Secretary of the Interior has promised further habitat protection, let's hope she and they mean it.

Rob