Cornell bird expert to speak on success

The thrill of finding an extinct species is still alive.

Few researchers have known that feeling. But Tim Gallagher, editor-in-chief of Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's Living Bird magazine, felt it when he saw the ivory-billed woodpecker Feb. 27, 2004, in a bayou in eastern Arkansas.

Mr. Gallagher will convey some of that excitement to the public at the Fragile Wilderness Guest Lecture, sponsored by the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park. The lecture will be at 7 p.m. Friday at the Sturtz Theater, Jefferson Community College. The talk will kick off the Fragile Wilderness 2008 weekend of events for the zoo.

In a phone interview Thursday, Mr. Gallagher described the moment when he and fellow ivory-billed searcher Bobby Ray Harrison saw their quarry.

"We both simultaneously yelled, 'Ivory-bill!'" Mr. Gallagher said.

That scared the bird but, as it flew away, they jumped out of their canoe into the muck of the swamp, trying to chase down the bird and turn on their video cameras, "almost going into cardiac arrest," he said.

Since then, researchers and birdwatchers have seen the rare species nearly 20 times. Some ornithologists still can't believe the bird has survived at least 50 years of supposed extinction.

The ivory-billed woodpecker is the largest woodpecker north of Mexico and the third largest in the world. It lives in mature swampy forests, eating beetle larvae and sometimes fruit and nuts. Each pair of ivory-billed woodpeckers may need up to 6 square miles of territory. They may live as long as 20 to 30 years.

Zoo Director John S. Foster said the story is exciting because it's one of the few tales of the rediscovery of supposedly lost North American species.

"It's a success story," he said. "You need a success story and you need hope."

In his presentation, Mr. Gallagher will talk about the history of the bird, the search and proof of the species and the efforts to preserve the habitat it needs.

Mr. Gallagher wrote about the trail to the discovery in "The Grail Bird," which won the Outdoor Writers Association of America's Best Book Award for 2005.

He also wrote "Falcon Fever," on the role of falconry in his life. He worked on the preservation of peregrine falcons in the 1970s. Mr. Gallagher is editor-in-chief of the Journal of the North American Falconers' Association.

Since the discovery of the long-lost ivory-billed woodpecker, conservation groups have redoubled their efforts to preserve the bird's habitat.

"If we could find a nesting pair, this would be really great," Mr. Gallagher said. "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would put a lot of funding into trying to preserve it."

Historically, the ivory-billed woodpecker was in the southeastern United States and Cuba, but as the trees that made up its habitat were harvested, ornithologists came to believe the species was extinct. In recent years, the forests that had thrived through the Civil War, been explored by President Theodore Roosevelt and harvested to a perilous low in the 1950s are slowly coming back.

"They're regenerating now," Mr. Gallagher said. "And that's good for all those animals there — the bobcats, otters and others, too."

He said the woodpecker sightings should give people hope.

"I want people to be encouraged by it," he said. "I don't want the forests to go through another round of logging after they reach a full, mature state."

He said it's sad this generation, and the next few generations, won't see the bottomland forests in all their wild beauty. It could be several hundred years before the trees are large and mature, as they were when John James Audubon or Theodore Roosevelt enjoyed them.

Mr. Gallagher's talk will follow a wine and cheese reception at 6 p.m. The Fragile Wilderness 2008 weekend will continue with exhibits on local conservation organizations and children's activities from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the zoo. People can sign up for several field trips Sunday in the region led by researchers and conservationists. Tickets for the weekend of events are available at the zoo's gift shop or the Hannaford grocery store in Watertown.

Prices and more information are available at www.nyszoo.org.