Towheeblog

Audubon’s drawing of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker.  He saw them.  He heard them.  He shot them. He portrayed them, an image for us who may never see one alive.

The annual spring search for a real-life IB Woodpecker in Arkansas is on again. You can follow the search on the Cornell Lab’s site.

In southeast Asia there may be a new species of plover.  The bird has clearly been around for some time,  but humans just hadn’t noticed.  Almost looks like all those Kentish [Snowy] Plovers sharing the beach.  Check out the piece and pictures here.  My thanks to Dan Murphy for pointing me to this one.

Finally, some faintly heartening news aout one of thw world’s rarest and ugliest birds: the Bald Ibis.  I’ve actually seen a few of these guys in the London Zoo.  The picture makes them look positively bird-life while in life they are more cartoonish.  There’ve been two new sightings in unsual places.