The Race to Save the Lord God Bird

On September 13, 2004, author Phillip Hoose brought the Ivory-billed Woodpecker to life during a Monday Night Seminar about his new book, The Race to Save the Lord God Bird.

John Fitzpatrick, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology?s director, introduced Hoose to an audience in a packed auditorium, an overflow crowd watching a live broadcast in the Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity, and Internet viewers. ?There is no story like this in American conservation or in American ornithology,? Fitzpatrick said. ?The story of this magnificent woodpecker and the reason that it disappeared clearly represents the single most tragic failure of conservation in North America.? Although there have been no confirmed sightings since the 1940s, Fitzpatrick said there is lingering hope that Ivory-billed Woodpeckers will ?grace the other side of a pair of binoculars some day.?

Hoose, an acclaimed author and conservation biologist for The Nature Conservancy, said, ?This story was like the Mississippi River, a big broad channel that sliced through America that had all these oxbows and tributaries that took you all over the place.? Hoose illustrated his talk with slides, unraveling a tale about the fate of the mythic bird and the historic events that converged to destroy the species, including scientific collectors, the Great Chicago Fire, new logging machines, World War II, and the ruthless greed of lumber companies.

Hoose also highlighted the efforts of those who tried to save the ivory-bill, beginning with Arthur ?Doc? Allen, the Lab of Ornithology?s founder, who launched an expedition to find the vanishing species in 1935. After carting hundreds of pounds of motion-picture recording equipment through a Louisiana swamp by mule and wagon, Allen and his crew managed to capture the only moving images and sounds of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers ever filmed. Courtesy of Cornell?s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Hoose showed footage during which Doc Allen looked high into a tree with binoculars and beckoned to the camera. The seminar?s audience gave an audible gasp when, in the next moment, the screen filled with a close-up view of a female Ivory-billed Woodpecker sidling back and forth on the trunk of the tree and peering into her nest cavity. Later, Hoose said that capturing the only moving images of this now-vanished bird was an important piece of American history. ?To me, that was as big of a deal as going to the moon. What?s the moon? We lived with this creature.?

Hoose also hailed as visionary the work of Cornell graduate student James Tanner, who documented the biology of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers during the 1930s and recommended plans for its conservation. At the end of the seminar, Hoose introduced a surprise guest—Nancy Tanner, the wife of the late James Tanner.

Mrs. Tanner captivated the audience by recounting a 1940 trip to a cypress swamp in Louisiana. She and James Tanner watched as a male Ivory-billed Woodpecker crawled out of its roost hole, stretched, and preened. More than 60 years later, she still has a vivid memory of the striking bird with its crimson crest, white bill, and fiery yellow eyes. ?It is gorgeous,? she told the audience. ?It is very regal in its behavior, an outstanding bird, and I was extremely lucky to see it.?

Phillip Hoose?s seminar and Nancy Tanner?s recollections are archived on the Internet. To view their talks, visit www.birds.conrell.edu/webcast/mondaynight/hoose.html. For a schedule of Monday Night Seminars, visit www.birds.cornell.edu. All seminars will be broadcast live over the Internet.

—Miyoko Chu

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