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Despite these efforts, the Ivory-bill continued to decrease in numbers. Logging of the great riverbottom forests of the South, greatly reduced the natural habitat of the bird, slowly isolating populations and reducing genetic diversity. By the 1930's, the only verifiable sightings of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers were in a small forested section of Louisiana, known as the Singer Tract. (The Singer sewing machine company had bought land in the late 1800's in order to have an emergency supply of wood for their sewing machine cabinets.) |
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At the time, Cornell University in New York, was the only college in America to offer an ornithology course. The ornithology professor, Dr. Arthur "Doc" Allen, was deeply concerned that certain bird species, such as the Ivory-bill, would go extinct before they could be fully studied. As a result, he and a team of researchers launched an expedidtion to gather the sounds (and behaviors) of America's rarest birds. With persistance and the help of Hollywood's newly invented sound machines, the researchers were able to capture the only recording and film footage of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. (The call you hear at the opening of the Summary pages is the Cornell team's Ivory-billed Woodpecker recording.)
The results of the research found that Ivory-bills required large territories because the food they ate, beetle larva, could only be found on dying trees (and there were only so many dying trees in an area of forest.) Logging continued to destroy the Ivory-bill's habitat, until in the 1940's only one female Ivory-bill was reported in the Singer Tract "calling for a mate that was no more." The last verified sighting of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in North America occurred in 1944. Today, the bird is believed to be extinct.
UPDATE! On April 28, 2005, a report was released announcing the rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker!! Click here to learn more!!
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Phillip Hoose does an excellent job of capturing readers in the tragic story of this bird and the desperate efforts to save it. It is a sad story, but one that will hopefully inspire young readers to take an interest in conserving our natural resources for future generations. |
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