Whether it's ivory-billed Woodpeckers in

Arkansas or chilled Penguins in Antarctica,

modern man can't take his eyes off birds.

BY G. TRACY MEHAN, i l l

LllC / f / \ • The Easter Season had not ended, and creation witnessed another resurrection ofsorts^The ivory^illetf woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) was recently rediscovered in Arkansas. Oncethought extinct, this magnificent bird has not been seen for more than 60 years. It was, or is, the largest wood-pecker in North America but for the imperial woodpecker of Mexico which is still thought to be extinct. Itsaverage length is 20 inches.

This bird has been on the brains of birders for a long time. A Google search revealed roughly 24,000entries online. Based on previous alleged viewings, expeditions had been mounted in Louisiana swamps andelsewhere to find it without success. It is reported that the great Audubon himself shot and collected ivory-billed woodpeckers along the Ohio, Arkansas, and Mississippi rivers in 1820. "They sometimes cling to tbe

bark with their claws so firmly, as toremain cramped to the spot for severalhours after death," he observed.

The announcement confirming theexistence of this emblematic species wasan impressive production involvingpeer-reviewed journal articles, websitesgalore, and a press conference with gov-ernment officials. Cornell Laboratory ofOrnithology. The Nature Conservancy,and a phalanx of experts verified sevensightings of the bird in the Big Woodsregion of eastern Arkansas. Besides thevisual encounters, these experts ana-lyzed video clips and verified "acousticsignatures consistent with Campephilus

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display-drums..." One lone male is the subject of allthis attention. Hopes soar that there are multiplepairings out there given a large potential habitat inthe area.

The headline in the Los Angeles Times exulted,"A Bellwether of the Wild, the Ivory-Billed Wood-pecker, Is Back." NevfScientist.com, under the ban-ner, "Ivory-billed woodpecker flies back from thedead," exclaimed, "For the world of ornithoiojfy, it isthe equivalent of Elvis being found alive and kicking."Elvis has entered the building!

John Flicker, president of the National AudubonSociety, expressed a "debt of gratitude" to all thosewhose work led to this rediscovery. "As it inspires ourhopes, this resilient Ivoiy-billed Woodpecker mustalso inspire our commitments to protect the habitatit needs to survive." Carter Roberts, president andCEO of the World Wildlife Fund, noted, thankfully,that "Nature gives very few second chances, hut thismay be one of them. Just imagine: North America'slargest woodpecker—a bird with a three-foot wing-span—hiding in the Arkansas woods for 60 yearswithout being seen by people." That may be just finefor the woodpecker, but let's not be churlish. Joiningin the celebration, too, was Larry Schweiger, the headof the National Wildlife Federation, who, poetically,stated. "The discovery is a wondrous glimmer of lifethat had been feared forever dimmed." Schweiger didnot pass up the opportunity to slam a federal pork-barrel project as an "ill-conceived $300 millionGrand Prairie pump-and-canal-and-pipeline projectthat threatens to drain the White River water flowthrough these National Wildlife Refuges..." Accord-ing to Schweiger, whose views are not without sup-

port in some quarters of the Office of Managementand Budget (OMB), this "is one of the worst ideasever presented to the American public by the U.S.Corps of Engineers."

ABRIEF KERFUFFLE BROKE OUT when three scien-tists threatened to challenge the rediscoveryof the ivory-billed woodpecker in a peer-

reviewed journal; but, according to the New YorkTimes, they concurred with the original findings afterlistening to "newly presented recordings" of the bird'sunique nasal "kent" call and double raps on a tree."We were absolutely stunned," said Mark B. Robbins,an ornithologist at the University of Kansas, one ofthe skeptics who recanted.

Some may take a detached, superior attitude tothis eruption of mass ecstasy, but it is no accidentthat Roger Tory Peterson and David Sibley and theirincredible illustrated bird guides are giants in thepublishing business. Richard Rhodes's recent biogra-phy of John James Audubon and Alan Tenant's mem-oir of tracking peregrine falcons in a small airplanewere both critical and popular bestsellers. A recentfeature in the Books section of the Sunday ChicagoTribune ("Books of a feather," July 3, 2005) by PeterCashwell, the author of The Verb "To Bird" showcas-ed no less than five new titles on birds, birding, bird-songs, and, of course, the ivory-billed woodpecker.

Recall the civil insurrection in Manhattan overthe eviction of Pale Male, the red-tailed hawk, from hisloft in a tony condominium on Fifth Avenue. This con-troversy caused the New Yorker to run a cartoon show-ing a monstrous, prehistoric pterodactyl, a flying rep-tile actually, with its oversized younglings, perched onan apartment ledge. A worried husband, viewing thenest, exclaims to his wife, "I'd complain, but I'm afraidof the bad press we'd get!" There is something going onhere at a very, very deep, psychic level.

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The Brits have definitely picked up on this bird-ing thing. According to the Economist magazine, theRoyal Society tor the Protection of Birds (RSPB),founded by a group of Manchester ladies worriedabout the use of feathers in the hat trade, now hasmore members than the three main political partiesin Britain put together. The RSPB has over a millionmembers and runs 30 large bird sanctuaries. Themost dedicated birdwatchers are known as "twitch-ers." Explanations for this great interest in twitchingrange from the geographic, to the religious, to theFreudian (don't ask). Evidently, more Brits spendSundays birdwatching than going to ehurch.

BY SOMP: ESTIMATKS, there are 80 mil-hon people in the United States whohave some interaction with birds,

eitherwatchingor hunting them. My familyis among the elect, mostly watchers. Wehave nothing against hunting. There are justtoo many of us to undertake a family hunt. Agreat winter pastime In my hometown of St.Louis, after the temperature remains belowfreezing for a good long stretch, is to bundleup and head north about an hour's ride toClarksville, Missouri, on the Upper Mississ-ippi River. There a major lock and damspans the main channel of the river whichprovides open water and stunned fish coming overthe spillway. This, literally, draws one to two hundredAmerican bald eagles wintering in the area, whichthen eat themselves sick, free of the frozen ice cover-ing other water sources. In the wintertime this partof the Mississippi Valley has the largest concentra-

tion of eagles outside of Alaska. The Missouri De-partment of Conservation used to set up telescopesfor easy viewing of the birds perching in the trees onthe river bank or walking along the sand hars whennot swooping into the water to grab a hit of lunch.There was no better way to fight cabin fever in Jan-uary or February.

In vast stretches of the Upper Great Lakes regionand New England, the common loon is a kind oftotem for the good life. This noble bird's image isaffixed to countless floor mats and rural mailboxes.Fluffy toy animal dolls that simulate the call of theloon are sold by the truckload. Massive amounts ofadult beverages are consumed on docks and deckswhile listening to the haunting sounds of this amaz-ing animal. Cottage dwellers on inland lakes in theseregions exert stern peer pressure against any boaterswho might harass these birds who cany their youngon their backs.

The French weighed in with the award-winningdocumentary Winged Migration (2003), which com-bined existentialism- with boffo technology. Thesoundtrack was right out of a French Canadian cir-cus. "Earthbound, watching the birds fly across thesky, we undertook this film. We had to go higher,nearer the bii'ds, within striking distance of thestars," said Jacque Perrin, the director. Indeed. Usinggliders, remote controlled cameras, helicopters, air-

planes. Ultra Light Motorized(ULM) aircraft, and balloons,Perrin and his team obtainedsome of the most spectacularshots of birds an the wingever recorded. As Peter Trav-ers of the HoUing Stone said,"Who wants to see a docu-mentary about birds of everyfeather who migrate acrossforty countries and sevencontinents? You do." Hardlycontaining himself. Traversopined, "The result is a moviemiracle: it soars." StephenHolden writing in the NewYork Times recounts how the

fllm required five crews, 450 people, 17 pilots, and 14cinematographers working over three years. It docu-ments numerous migrations tracking the stars, i.e.,the birds, more than 10,000 miles between the trop-ics and the Arctic. Warning to parents: do not take thekids. It is too artsy for their tastes. Rut you can buy

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them the new DVD so they can check out the coolstuff used to make the movie.

THE KKENCH Kl'CKNTLY STRUCK AGAIN w i t h t h e

new documentary, March of the Penguins(2005). about the incredible saga of the

emperor penguins' quest to breed in the most inhos-pitable place on earth, Antarctica. A film crew set upcamp there during the winter when relief by sea or airwas impossible, staying for almost 13 months in fact.

Emperor penguins do not fly. but they are capableof diving 1,400 feet or sofor as much as 20 min-utes without breathing.They walk approximate-ly 70 miles into theAntarctic to mate, mon-ogamously, for the sea-son. The female man-ages to lay one egg whichshe turns over to themale to cradle on his feetfor protection while sheheads back to the oceanto feed. The male mustfast for 115 days since hestays put for the entireincubation period, hud-dling with his mates inthe face of 100-mile-an-hour winds and temperatures of 71 degrees belowzero. After the chick arrives, the couple alternate witheach other to make trips back and forth to the coastfor more food.

March of the Penguins is an incredible film in aspectacular setting. The penguins are certainly in-trepid. The narrator, Morgan Freeman, claims, "Thisis not just a story of survival, it is a story of love." Thisdrew a response from Newsweek columnist MarcGellman who demurred: "Penguins don't plight theirtroth to one another for fish or no tlsh. for colder orreally colder, for seas full of krill or seas full of leopardseals..,, they are penguins, for God's sake!" Come on.Marc. Lighten up! Get viith the program.

LOVE OF BIRDS and birdwatching gives hope to thefolks of Cotton Plant, Arkansas, where rooms atthe nearby Days Inn are filling up for fall, a

prime time for viewing the rediscovered ivor>'-billedwoodpecker and other species. According to MeHssaNelson of the Associated Press, Cotton Plant has lost

almost half of its population since 1950, down to 960souls. One in four residents live below the povertylevel. "I wish I had a place to get T-shirts made up withthe woodpecker on them that say Cotton Plant," saidEsther Hicks, the manager of Nannie's Kitchen cafe.Governor Mike Huckabee sees "a huge benefit totourism. Look for a lot of folks to be coming to Ar-kansas and maybe spending their good old money" inthis part of the Delta. And David Goad, deputy direc-tor of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission,claims. "This will mean millions of dollars for this part

of the world."This is not wishful

thinking. The U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service re-ports that 46 million bird-watchers spent $32 bil-lion in 2001. The Servicedefines a birder as an indi-vidual who travels a mileor more from home forthe primary purpose ofwatching birds, or closelyobserves or tries to identi-fy them around the home.Foiiy percent of birders(18 million) reported thatthey travel in pursuit ofbirds to view. They spendtheir money on gear, trav-

el, food, and big ticket items such as canoes and evenoff-road vehicles. This, in turn, generates $85 billion intotal economic output, including $13 billion in federaland state income taxes, and supports more than863,000 jobs. Nationally, the net economic value ofeach nonresident birder is approximately $488 peryear.

There are amongst us those who subscribe toAlfred Hitchcock's view of the avian world. No doubt,if a Robin ever got in their house, they might beinclined to take a tennis racket to it. But most of uswill follow our heart, out the window, into the sky,and off into the wild blue yonder, hoping to catch aglimpse of that solitary fellow winging his waythrough the swamps of Arkansas on a quest to propa-gate his own kind. "*;

G. Tracy Mehan, III was Assistant Administrator forWater at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.He is now an environmental consultant with TheCadmus Group. Inc.. in Arlington. Virginia.

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