Saturday, February 25, 2012

Ode to the Ivory-billed Woodpecker

". . . the manners of the Ivory-billed have a dignity about them far superior to the herd of common Woodpeckers." Jacob Henry Studer (1840-1904)

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker  - the Lord God bird of the bottomland hardwood forests of the south. I've read and investigated much about this magnificent woodpecker. To think that it may be extinct, gone from this Earth, due to human influence brings me pain not only for this grand woodpecker but also for myself and others who will never experience it. It was deprived of its very existence as we too are deprived.

Much has been written about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and much investigation has gone into ascertaining if it still exists. I write my comments for you Dear Lord God Bird. If you are still out there, still foraging in the tiny tracts that remain of once was the Great Southern Hardwood Forests before they were logged out, remain the Ghost Bird.

Learn more
The Ivory-billed Woodpecker by James T. Tanner
Ghost Birds: Jim Tanner and the Quest for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 1935-1941 by Stephen Lyn Bales, Foreword by Nancy Tanner
The Grail Bird: The Rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker by Tim Gallagher