Ivory-billed Woodpecker Chat [Real Player] http://www.nature.org/chat/lordgodbird/index.html?src=search The Search for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/ Audubon: Ivory-billed woodpecker http://www.mass.gov/lib/collections/dc/Audubon/Ivory_Billed_Woodpecker.htm Ivory-billed woodpecker [pdf] http://www.fws.gov/ivorybill/ Big Woods Conservation Partnership http://www.ivorybill.org/ Three years ago, a bird scientist claimed to have seen an ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas. It was an unusual sighting, mostly because the bird was supposedly extinct, and had been so since the 1940s. The alleged sighting set off a flurry of activity among ornithologists, and even those with little interest in bird watching became interested. The quest for this rare bird continues, as a team of researchers from Cornell University was recently dispatched to the White River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas to continue the search. To look for the bird, they have brought along tools like GPS coordinate monitors, automatic cameras, infrared flash strobes, and sensitive audio recorders. Of course, there are some in the birding community who remain convinced that there are no ivory-billed woodpeckers left at all. There are a number of believers however, and groups like the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society, and even NASA have provided support and technical assistance. Even noted biologist E. O. Wilson has chimed in on the subject, noting that while the bird may be gone forever, "Great science discoveries have come from longer odds." The first link leads to a fine piece from this Sunday's Boston Globe which reports on the quest to locate the ivory-billed woodpecker. The second link leads to a chat with author Phillip Hoose, who wrote a book about the ivory-billed woodpecker. Moving on, the third link leads to the homepage for the research expedition sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Here, visitors can learn more about the expedition and read dispatches from the field. The fourth link will take visitors to a drawing of the ivory-billed woodpecker by noted naturalist John James Audubon. The fifth link will lead visitors to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's site dedicated to the ivory-billed woodpecker. Here visitors can read a draft recovery plan and also learn more about the bird. The last link will take visitors to the homepage of the Big Woods Conservation Partnership.