'I Saw The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker'

By Dan Shapley News Editor It's not everyday you see a ghost -- or a creature that supposedly ceased existing more than six decades ago. But that's what Rich Guthrie did April 17, while struggling through the tangle of the Big Woods along the White River in Arkansas. “I saw the ivory-billed woodpecker,” Guthrie said. “I certainly did.” Guthrie, a well-credentialed birder in his own right, was a volunteer with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which is leading the hunt for proof that the giant woodpecker still exists. The last known live bird died in 1944, and the red-headed 20-inch long bird was believed to be extinct for decades. In 2004, a still-controversial set of sightings began a craze for definitive proof that the bird still exists. Habitat protected, like the Nature Conservancy's Big Woods tract, should allow the bird to thrive -- if it still exists. Guthrie's observation joins a growing list of sporadic reports, but the definitive proof -- a clear photograph, has eluded even the dogged ornithologists that brave the snake-infested bayou each winter and spring in search of the "Lord God Bird," as it is known. “Rich Guthrie was a volunteer on the ivory bill search, but as far as verifying his sighting, we can't,” said Constance Bruce, of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. In other words, Guthrie's observation is not proof positive, and he knows it. But he's also 100 percent confident that he saw what he thinks he saw. “At the moment, I realized what was going on. I wasn't a jump up and down birdwatcher celebrating a tick on the life list. I was there gathering data -- mentally taking it all in,” Guthrie said. “I realize the significance of it, and how fortunate I was, but I'm glad that I was able to throw my observation into the ring to help the world know that there is still a viable hope down there.” With the search season winding down, this is likely to be the only evidence noted for awhile. Guthrie, for his part, encourages anyone with an interest and a camera to go search for the bird in the wilds of Arkansas. Guthrie leads nature programs and birding trips for tourists in New York's Hudson Valley, and he is a regular guest on the local NPR affiliate's afternoon call-in program, where he answers questions about birds and other wildlife. He said the experience reinforced his appreciation of wildlife, and humanity's uneven relationship with the wild world. Habitat loss, climate change and a variety of other factors threaten many bird species in this generation, just as indiscriminate killing led to extinctions of the passenger pigeon, Carolina parakeet and other birds in previous generations. “They robbed us,” Guthrie said. “Those predecessors robbed us of a legitimate right that we had, and we have an obligation now to rectify the best we can, to see what we can do to make sure the ivory billed woodpecker -- the Lord God Bird -- doesn't go that way,” Related Stories Common Birds In Drastic Decline List Of 20 Common Birds In Decline Disease Attacks Birds At Backyard Feeders Tips For Preventing Disease At Feeders West Nile Virus Killing Backyard Birds Four Things You Can Do To Help The Birds