The University Library has been home to John James Audubon’s “Birds of America” since it was donated by the McCormick family more than 30 years ago.
But the recent re-discovery in Arkansas of the ivory-billed woodpecker, a creature thought extinct since 1944, has generated new interest in the rare volume.
Kept in a high-security glass case near the entrance to the library because of its monetary and historical value, “Birds of America” is an elephant folio containing full-page illustrations of various types of birds.
When the ivory-billed woodpecker sighting was confirmed last week by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, University Library assistant Elisabeth Jones said she wondered whether or not the bird was featured in the book.
“My parents and my whole family are very into birdwatching, so when I saw it in The New York Times it caught my eye,” said Jones, who works with the library’s department of special collections. “As I was walking into work and saw the book I thought, ‘I bet it’s in there.'”
Audubon’s book is already a fairly well-publicized resource of the library, said Jeffrey Garrett, assistant university librarian for collection management. But the three large illustrations of the bird are catching the eye of more passers-by these days.
“People are standing in front of that case for the first time in a long time,” Garrett said. “‘Birds of America’ is possibly the most famous American book there is. Many birds in the book no longer exist, but when this happened, the information was right under our noses.”
For bird-lovers around the world, the ivory-billed woodpecker sighting is an exciting event that will require extensive study and conservation efforts.
“Amazingly, America may have another chance to protect the future of this spectacular bird and the awesome forest in which it lives,” said John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, in the lab’s press release.
The re-discovery came after a sighting in February 2004 and a subsequent year-long intensive search, concentrated in the Cache River and White River National Wildlife Refuges in Arkansas and led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and The Nature Conservancy.
Generally found in thick, dense woods of the Southeast, the black and red bird thrives on insects, fruits and nuts, according to the Cornell Web site. It is usually between 18 and 20 inches tall and can weigh as much as 20 lbs.
Known as a bird of “beauty and indomitable spirit,” the largest woodpecker in North America vanished as a result of extensive forest clearings between the 1880s and 1940s.
Although search efforts have continued for decades, in such places as Cuba, Texas and Florida, there was no real proof of the bird’s existence.
Anne Hobbs, public relations specialist for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, said the discovery was extremely important.
“We have been receiving hundreds of phone calls and e-mails from people thinking they’ve seen one, wanting to help, or just to say congratulations,” Hobbs said. “In the world of bird news, it doesn’t get much bigger than this.”
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