The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker...
If you are into bird watching and ornithology, this week has been incredible. The Holy Grail was found in southeast Arkansas. It was not in the form of a 2000 year old cup, but a woodpecker - an Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. Bird watchers like myself were ecstatic about hearing the news. This large woodpecker has deceived us for 60 years, retreating into the seclusion of a very small virgin forest in Arkansas. For the last couple of years a group of scientists have carried out a very systematic search for this bird and all of the hard work has finally paid off (you can read a very well written and very long article about this process here).
However, there's still a LOT of work to be done. The type of environment needed for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker to survive is disappearing. The need for wood and uninhabited land is winning the fight between business and nature. What a shame, this bird may end up extinct after all. And then how would we feel? Seeing this bird for the first time in over half a century just to watch it die with the Carolina Parakeet the Passenger Pigeon, the Bauchman's Warbler. We saved the Bald Eagle, let's save a few woodpeckers, shall we?
Some of my most cherished memories of my childhood are with my dad out in the middle of nowhere (no, seriously, we've been to the MIDDLE OF NO-WHERE) looking for birds. Lost Maples State Park, Glacier National Park, just about anywhere you can find some untouched woods, trees, flowers, you name it. But usually, looking for some random bird on a random page in our "Field Guide To Birds" book. Gosh, he was the first thing I thought of when I read the news about this great discovery. Now, John Q. Taxpayer, give us the opportunity to find this piece of ornithology. The only way it will survive the continued deforestation of the American southeast is by contributions to conservation groups and a dramatic push for funding to keep out deforestation from this rare and precious area and to keep in it's NATURAL inhabitants. I know my sister appreciates such places of beauty and natural wonder, I just hope Congress does too.
I love birds. I love trees. I love this feeling that I have knowing that the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker is not extinct like all of us thought. I want this feeling to overcome that which will exist in my heart if we do nothing and this species really does disappear again, never to be found by future generations. Visit http://www.ivorybill.org and read about this bird and how you can save it. Even if you don't care much for ornithology, at least care about me and my dad and help give us another father/son vacation... out in the woods looking for another bird.
However, there's still a LOT of work to be done. The type of environment needed for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker to survive is disappearing. The need for wood and uninhabited land is winning the fight between business and nature. What a shame, this bird may end up extinct after all. And then how would we feel? Seeing this bird for the first time in over half a century just to watch it die with the Carolina Parakeet the Passenger Pigeon, the Bauchman's Warbler. We saved the Bald Eagle, let's save a few woodpeckers, shall we?
Some of my most cherished memories of my childhood are with my dad out in the middle of nowhere (no, seriously, we've been to the MIDDLE OF NO-WHERE) looking for birds. Lost Maples State Park, Glacier National Park, just about anywhere you can find some untouched woods, trees, flowers, you name it. But usually, looking for some random bird on a random page in our "Field Guide To Birds" book. Gosh, he was the first thing I thought of when I read the news about this great discovery. Now, John Q. Taxpayer, give us the opportunity to find this piece of ornithology. The only way it will survive the continued deforestation of the American southeast is by contributions to conservation groups and a dramatic push for funding to keep out deforestation from this rare and precious area and to keep in it's NATURAL inhabitants. I know my sister appreciates such places of beauty and natural wonder, I just hope Congress does too.
I love birds. I love trees. I love this feeling that I have knowing that the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker is not extinct like all of us thought. I want this feeling to overcome that which will exist in my heart if we do nothing and this species really does disappear again, never to be found by future generations. Visit http://www.ivorybill.org and read about this bird and how you can save it. Even if you don't care much for ornithology, at least care about me and my dad and help give us another father/son vacation... out in the woods looking for another bird.
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