Pieces of Paradise

"Pieces of Paradise," a film produced by the Macaulay Library for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's multimedia theater, has won a Finalist Award in the 2004 International Wildlife Film Festival. The film is about vanishing Hawaiian birds, with footage from the Lab's expeditions to Hawaii in 2002 and 2003.

"People often think of Hawaii as paradise, and so did I prior to working on this film," said David Brown, the Macaulay Library?s senior video producer. "I had worked there almost exclusively on films about the marine environment, which is in relatively good shape. As we researched and produced "Pieces of Paradise," it was a sobering revelation to learn just how severely the terrestrial environment has been impacted there."

The endangered Akiapolaau can still be found in some of Hawaii's few remaining pieces of paradise. Photo by Tim Barksdale.

The film showcases dazzling footage of Hawaii's unique birdlife, including some of its most endangered species. However, the opportunity to capture these birds on film was bittersweet, Brown said. Lab associate Tim Barksdale managed to film the last wild pair of Alala, or Hawaiian Crow, only months before they disappeared. The images he captured are the only high-quality video images in existence of wild Alala. Unfortunately, pieces of paradise are continually being lost in Hawaii, the most recent tragedy being the death of the last known Poouli.

The film is shown daily in the Lab's Bartels Multimedia Family Theater.

For permission to reprint all or part of this article, please contact Laura Erickson, editor, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14850. Phone: (607) 254-1114. email: lle24@cornell.edu