Back in time: Researchers discover only recorded flight of legendary imperial woodpecker

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.pressoffice.cornell.edu/releases/release.cfm?r=61924

Releases Press Release

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS OFFICE

FOR RELEASE: Oct. 26, 2011

Contact: John Carberry
Office: [phone]

Cell: [phone]
[e-mail]

Back in time: Researchers discover only recorded flight of legendary imperial woodpecker

ITHACA, N.Y. – It was once the undisputed king of its clan, but most believe the imperial woodpecker faded unseen into the pages of history sometime in the late 20th century in the high mountains of Mexico.

But now, thanks to some keen detective work, the largest woodpecker that ever lived can be seen by the world once more – and this 85-second flight through time offers us a lesson about its behavior, and ours.

“It is stunning to look back through time with this film and see the magnificent imperial woodpecker moving through its old-growth forest environment, said research associate Martjan Lammertink, lead author of the paper along with four Cornell Lab of Ornithology staff members and two Mexican biologists. “And it is heartbreaking to know that both the bird and the forest are gone.”

The imperial woodpecker was thought to have gone extinct without anyone ever capturing photos or film of the 2-foot-tall, flamboyantly crested bird. That was until a biologist from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology tracked down a 16-mm film shot in 1956 by a dentist from Pennsylvania. The footage, which captures the last confirmed sighting of an imperial woodpecker in the wild, is available for viewing at www.birds.cornell.edu/imperialfilm .

…

[wtmusic]

1. Amazing. K&R. nt

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Apparently a close relative of the ivorybill too ...

for the largest surviving relative, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magellanic_Woodpecker

[hatrack]

3. Awesome footage - and all that remains, other than a few stuffed birds, I suppose.

nt