By Peter von Buol
Special to Inside
While the documentary "March of the Penguins" will finish the year as one of the most popular films, a video that starred the ivory-billed woodpecker attracted nearly 700 people the Field Museum of Natural History last Wednesday. The Field Museum's Doug Stotz and Dave Willard had participated in the around-the-clock search effort that had started after the initial sighting of the in the wetland forests of the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas.
At the evening presentation, film of the ivory-billed woodpecker captivated the audience in the museum's auditorium. As modern-day footage of the bird was shown, the audience watched quietly as the bird appeared on the screen for a few seconds. Until recently, the red, white and black woodpecker was believed to have become extinct. Its last confirmed sighting in the United States had been in 1944.
Although not of the same quality as "March of the Penguins," the footage that offered fleeting glimpses of the ivory-billed woodpecker was a major draw for those in attendance. Careful analysis of the videotape helped prove the continued existence of one of naturalist John James Audubon's favorite subjects.
Researchers at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology had formally announced the continued existence of the ivory-billed woodpecker last April and at the time caused headlines around the world.
In the 1800s, Audubon had found the ivory-billed woodpecker all along the Ohio, Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. Its range included southern Illinois. Unfortunately, heavy logging begun in the 1870s struck a heavy blow. By the 1930s, only a small number were found to be clinging to existence in Louisiana on land owned by the Singer Sewing Machine company. At that time, film and audio recordings were made by Cornell scientists—these later proved valuable as a tool with which to compare the current sightings. Conservationists lost their attempt to stop this tract from being logged in the 1940s.
The birds seemed to have favored old-growth cypress trees—many of these had been more than a thousand years old before they were cut down.
At Wednesday's event, Stotz and Willard discussed their own roles as part of the Cornell search team. At a display table that featured an opportunity to get an up-close view of specimens of ivory-billed woodpeckers from the museum's collection, both scientists answered questions from the public. Also on display were specimens of two cousins, the imperial woodpecker of Mexico and the pileated woodpecker. Both birds bear a resemblance to the ivory-billed.
Stotz and Willard had participated in the around-the-clock search effort that had started after Cornell confirmed the initial sighting of an ivory-billed woodpecker in the wetland forests of the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas. The Cornell team had decided it had to be sure it could convince even hardened skeptics the bird was alive before they made their public announcement. The early film footage had been slowed down, analyzed and compared with the recent video footage. The early audio recordings were also compared with audio from the present. The scientific techniques of the Cornell team often closely resembled those used in criminal investigations rather than in traditional scientific field research.
Naturalist Gene Sparling, the resident of Hot Springs, AR, who was the first person to rediscover the ivory-billed woodpecker, was one of the guest speakers. He told the audience that, while it had been his life-long dream to rediscover the woodpecker, by the time he actually did rediscover it he had become somewhat reluctant to discuss it with anyone. He could not actually believe his lifelong dream had come true!
"I did not tell anyone. I only posted my discovery on my canoe club's Web site and I did not name the bird. I described what I saw," said Sparling.
"One of the club members took me to task for not taking the discovery seriously enough. Once I learned my sighting was within the historic range of the ivory-billed woodpecker, I contacted Cornell. The first researchers that came down, on our first canoe trip, we saw the ivory-billed woodpecker. That began the largest search for an extinct species in North America!" added Sparling.
Willard and Stotz had been asked to participate by the director of the Cornell laboratory, John W. Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick had once been curator of birds at the Field Museum and both researchers were happy to help their friend document the rediscovery of a lifetime.
"John Fitzpatrick showed the video to me in my apartment. The first time through was at full speed, and when he asked what the bird was, my guess was a wood duck. As he slowed it down, it became clear it was not a duck, and at very slow speed I could not come up with anything else but ivory-bill. I tried to think of something else, but could not. Then came the thrill—the ivory-bill was still with us," says Willard.
While Willard and Stotz were not able to actually see the enigmatic woodpecker, Willard says he enjoyed the opportunity to experience the unique landscape of the cypress swampland that the late William Faulkner had named the Big Woods of Arkansas.
"I was there for two weeks at the end of February. We moved around in canoes with quiet electric motors, through magnificent cypress/water tupelo stands. Sometimes we sat in one spot playing vocalizations of the ivory-billed with decoys hanging on distant trees in hopes of a bird responding. Other times we just covered territory," said Willard, who is the collections manager of the bird division at the Field Museum.
Willard, who has experienced exotic places such as the Himalayas of Bhutan and the rain forests of the Congo, says the Big Woods required researchers to be on the alert and to always be aware of their surroundings —including large and dangerous snakes. Global Positioning Satellite navigational devices, he said, were absolutely necessary while navigating the swamp forest.
"GPS units were essential because it was very easy to get lost. As the weather warmed in the second week, water moccasins started to come out of the shrubbery—there were days where you would see 20 of them in one day," said Willard.
During his search attempts, Willard appreciated speaking with those who had seen it.
"While I was there, I only worked with one person who had actually seen it. She had been a major skeptic up to the time of her observation. It was very exciting to hear the descriptions directly from her," said Willard.
The event was a joint presentation of the museum's Environmental and Conservation Programs branch and the Nature Conservancy. The branch partners with research institutions, conservation organizations, local communities, and government agencies for what it refers to as "science-based action" for conservation. The Nature Conservancy is a national conservation organization that specializes in purchasing important wildlife habitat.
After the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker, the Nature Conservancy and other partners of the Big Woods Conservation Partnership announced plans to conserve an additional 200,000 acres of forest in the Big Woods of Arkansas within the next 10 years, according to a written statement released by the Nature Conservancy.
Willard says the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker proves that it can sometimes be premature to declare a species extinct. He hopes other elusive North American species may one day reveal themselves again.
"The major lesson [I learned] is to not write off something prematurely and that there may be hope for some other birds we think are extinct, particularly something like the Bachman's warbler," added Willard. |
