Woody Lives

Birdwatchers across the country are thrilled by several sightings of a striking woodpecker thought extinct since 1944. The ivory-billed woodpecker, with a 3-foot wingspan and dramatic black-and-white plumage, has been spotted several times in the Big Woods area of Arkansas. "This is thrilling beyond words ... after 60 years of fading hope that we would ever see this spectacular bird again," said John W. Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Hunted for its feathers for women's hats, and by Indians who treasured its "magical" bill, the ivory bill disappeared after logging destroyed its habitat. The bird, described by one researcher as a pileated woodpecker on steroids, is also known as the Lord God bird because people seeing it would say, "Lord God, look at that bird!"
-- Debra Jones