K4001c

Christmas Wildlife

Ivory Billed Woodpecker - “Lord God Bird”

Angel

Collins Cover Announcement 

Christmas Wifilife — 2005

The Incredibk Rediscovered

Ivory-Billed Woodpecker

Long thought extinct the last documented sighting was April 1944

What a gift for Alnerica! In February of 2004, an experienced outdoorsman and birder named Gene Sparling was kayaking in the cypress and tupelo wwamp in eastern Arkansas. There in an area known as Big Woods, he made the discovery of a lifetime. Seeing a species that had long been listed as extinct — the ivory-billed woodpecker — he would later say, "It was the most wondrous thing that's ever happened in my life. "

Researchers from the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology got involved in heading up a super secretive effort to confirm Sparling's sighting. Only two weeks after the first sighting, two Cornell researchers plus their guide Sparling spotted another ivory-bill with its unmistakable large white wing patches that distinguish it from the smaller pileated woodpecker.

In the spring of 2004 David Luneau, a professor at the University of Arkansas and part of the search team, captured a few seconds of video of the elusive woodpecker. The brief movie was shot by David while canoeing with his brother-in-law and, after being examined by more than a dozen expert ornithologists, the conclusion was unanimous. The bird on the video could only be an ivory-bill!

My hand painted cachet shows a pair of male ivory-bills in their Big Woods swampland sanctuary. It is the largest woodpecker in North America. The color is a glossy black with large white patches on the back of the wings. The head crest is bright red, and the bill, obviously, is ivory. It's a beautiful bird, and I believe this is the first time that this magnificent bird appears on any First Day Cover since its rediscovery and perhaps ever.

The legendary woodpecker was once known as the "Lord God Bird" and that's just an additional reason it was a perfect choice for my annual Christmas Wildlife FDC. In the spring of 2005 when the story broke, Americans were stunned with the amazing news. After sixty years of being thought extinct, the incredible Ivory-Billed Woodpecker was back. "Lord God Bird" —Collins #1(4001 — $13.50.