The Grail Bird: The Rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker [Paperback]

Tim Gallagher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2006

In April 2005, a startling announcement made national and international news: the ivory-billed woodpecker, a bird thought to be extinct for nearly sixty years, had been sighted. The story behind this incredible discovery began more than a year earlier when, after a lengthy search, Tim Gallagher was one of the first people to see this iconic bird, the holy grail of birdwatchers. He persuaded the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology to mount a massive search for evidence of the bird's existence. The news was kept secret while field teams went to work and land was bought to conserve the ivory-bill's habitat. Gallagher's story reads like a mystery novel, and the subsequent conservation efforts provide hope and a lesson for our times.

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

This book is an outstanding example of the behind-the-recent-headlines genre. It tells the story of the obsessive quest to find the ivory-billed woodpecker, which was feared to be extinct (no confirmed sightings since 1944). Big, mysterious, iconic, the bird is "a symbol of everything that has gone wrong with our relationship to the environment." In the 19th century, it was plundered by collectors, and in the 20th, extensive habitat destruction seemingly drove it to extinction.

Gallagher, editor of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's publication Living Bird, has searched for the bird off and on for three decades. One day in February 2004 he read a posting on a canoe club Web site about a strange woodpecker that a kayaker named Gene Sparling had seen on a float trip down a remote bayou in eastern Arkansas. Less than two weeks later Gallagher and his fellow seeker, Bobby Ray Harrison, were in the swamp with Sparling, looking for the elusive bird. As readers of headlines know, they found it. The discovery gives us, Gallagher writes, "one final chance to get it right, to save this bird and the bottomland swamp forests it needs to survive."

Editors of Scientific American --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Gallagher displays his passion for conversation, competition, and wildlife in his account of the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker—a remarkable event. His conversational tone allows readers to engage in this adventure. But to critics’ chagrin, Gallagher attacks members in the scientific community, whom he claims did not do enough in their search to rediscover this lost species. Despite this criticism, readers will stay close on Gallagher’s heels throughout his adventure, learn about the history of this rare bird, and consider what its rediscovery means for conservation.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (April 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 061870941X
• ISBN-13: 978-0618709410
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #748,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tim Gallagher got his first field guide at the age of 8, and he's been watching birds ever since--especially birds of prey. He has traveled on several expeditions to northern Greenland, Iceland, Canada, and Alaska to study raptors. He also spent several years tracking down Ivory-billed Woodpecker sightings across the South, which is detailed in his award-winning book, The Grail Bird. His most recent book, Falcon Fever, is a memoir tracing his lifelong interest in falconry.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the inside story of the 2004 ivory-bill sighting!, May 16, 2005

By 

R. Hutchinson "autonomeus" (a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Grail Bird: Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Hardcover)

This is a well-written insider's tale of the confirmed sightings of the ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas in 2004, which amazed all of us who are even remotely interested in birds and wildlife. The last previous confirmed sighting was in 1944, in the NE corner of Louisiana, an area that was logged and destroyed later that year. Interesting, then, that the rare bird, long thought extinct, shows up just upriver in Arkansas.

One of the things that makes Gallagher's book so good is his tracking down various unconfirmed sightings over the years. In light of what we now know, that the ivory-bill lives!, these sightings become much more plausible in retrospect. And there is a pattern that emerges -- sightings across southern Louisiana from west (Sabine River) to central (Atchafalaya Basin) to east (Pearl River). A long-lost tape has been unearthed confirming a 1966 "sighting" (hearing) in the Sabine River area of east Texas. The 850,000 acre Atchafalaya Basin was the location of several sightings in the 1970s and 1980s. A highly credible 1999 sighting in the Pearl River area led to an intensive search that found nothing. It is quite possible therefore, based on the evidence presented in this book, that the ivory-bill survives not only in the Cache and White River area of east-central Arkansas, but in the swamps of southern Lousiana as well!

What's the moral of the story? Habitat preservation! The area in Arkansas is protected land, which was expanded by Nature Conservancy purchases between the February 2004 sightings and the recent public announcement, and protecting critical habitat in the three river basins mentioned above might well secure more elusive ivory-bill populations. Designation and protection of critical habitat is in fact mandated by the Endangered Species Act.

The two top websites for more on the amazing ivory-bill story are The Nature Conservancy (http://www.tnc.org) and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (http://www.birds.cornell.edu).

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ivory-billed Woodpecker: The TRUTH behind the rediscovery, May 3, 2005

By 

Chris Tessaglia-Hymes "Chris T-H" (Ithaca, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Grail Bird: Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Hardcover)

Tim Gallagher's newest book, The Grail Bird, is indeed the truth behind the rediscovery. I've been a follower of Ivory-billed Woodpecker history and sightings for several years. I've tried to read any book that has any noteworthy mention of the species within. This is the best book I have ever come across. It contains a great wealth of information on the history of the species right up to Tim's own personal sighting a little more than a year ago.

Do you know who took the mystery photos of the 1971 Ivory-billed Woodpecker? Tim does. And, thanks to his sleuthing, now I do too. It's all in his book.

Tim is a great writer and a great detective. He tracked down every possible lead he could find and interviewed anyone he thought may have seen an Ivory-billed Woodpecker or who knew of someone who had. His interviews and stories are very interesting with great personal lines from Tim that will make you laugh and maybe even cry. After reading his book you will come away feeling as if you were there, right alongside Tim and his friend, Bobby, on their journeys for the truth.

I know you will thoroughly enjoy this.

Good reading!

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Next Best Thing to Being There, May 8, 2005

By 

Rob Neyer (Earth) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Grail Bird: Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Hardcover)

I assumed we would have to wait a few months, or even a year, for the inside story of the rediscovery of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait at all, as Tim Gallagher was simultaneously searching for the bird and working on this most excellent book. Another reviewer used the word "perfect" to describe The Grail Bird, and I think that's about right, as Gallagher has somehow arrived at the perfect mix of natural history, detective story, and memoir. It's a delicate balance, and he found it. This book won't be a best-seller, but deserves to be.