Astonished ornithologists and government officials yesterday confirmed the existence of at least one ivory-billed woodpecker, a species thought extinct for 60 years.
Many sightings of the spectacular bird – with its 3-foot wingspan, ivory-white bill and distinctive ebony, white and scarlet plumage – had been reported over the years. It was finally videotaped a year ago.
An article confirming its reappearance was published yesterday by the journal Science. The news was met with hallelujahs by bird lovers – and a pledge of $10 million from the feds.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials say the government spending will help save the woodpeckers’ old-growth forest habitat.
“The amount of habitat left in the lower Mississippi valley is not nearly what it once was,” said Sam Hamilton, the Fish and Wildlife Service’s southeast regional director.
He added that the next step is to establish some sense of just how large a population remains. “We don’t know if we have one bird or a few birds,” Hamilton said.
The woodpecker, sometimes called the “Lord God” bird because a stunned onlooker might say just that, had last been sighted in 1944.