Public Lecture: In Search of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker

Public Lecture: Vanishing Habitat, Vanishing Species: In Search of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker

Scott Curtis & Eric Ward, Reference librarians Friday, April 18, 2008 3 p.m.  Linda Hall Library Auditorium

What do you get when two reference librarians travel to the Big Woods of Arkansas in search of a lost bird? Come to Linda Hall Library’s Auditorium on Friday, April 18 and find out! From January 23-27, 2008, Eric Ward and Scott Curtis traveled to one of the few remaining hardwood bottomland swamp environments in the United States in a quest to make a verifiable sighting of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The Ivory-billed, known as the “Lord God Bird,” was the largest woodpecker in North America – however, it was presumed extinct due to its last confirmed sightings being six decades ago. Then, in 2004, the birding community was shaken by accounts of an Ivory-billed sighting in Bayou de View, Arkansas. Every year since then, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has sponsored efforts in the Big Woods to bring back conclusive evidence of the continued survival of this great bird. No undisputable evidence has surfaced….yet. Were Eric and Scott successful? How many different bird species can you see in an Arkansas swamp in January? Enjoy an afternoon of discussion on bird watching, wild habitat, and the quality of Mexican food in a small Arkansas town. 

The event is free and open to the public. To RSVP, call (816) 926-8753.