Guess Who's Back?

The Ivory Billed Woodpecker, that's who! I'm not kidding. Just reported on CNN.com today that researchers have confirmed the existence of the bird, thought to be extinct since 1944, in rural Arkansas. And in case you haven't figured it out, yes, I'm a bird-watcher. Shut up. I can still probably kick your ass.

But seriously, this is huge news in the ornithology world. It would be like someone discovering a pair of DoDo birds wandering around in a jungle. Or a Tasmanian Wolf in the suburbs of Melbourne. Just HUGE. And why should you care? I would answer that question with a question: have you ever stared out your window and tried to count how many different kinds of birds are flying around in your neighborhood? Neither had I, until my impromptu move to Minneapolis in the mid-90s. I think it was the second day in my office when I looked out the window and saw a bird that I had never seen before. I can't recall exactly what I said, but it was something along the lines of:

"What the fuck is that?"

"That" was actually a Pileated Woodpecker, the largest (now second largest since the Ivory Billed is back) woodpecker species in the world. Wingspan of 29 inches, in flight it looks like a pterodactyl with feathers. On a tree, its pecking sounds like someone hammering. It just blew my mind. Within a week, I had bought a Sibley Guide to Birds, and was just stunned at the birds I saw out my window (or nearby). Great Horned Owl. Pheasant. Red-Winged Blackbird. Robin. Blue Jay. Bald Eagle. In fact, bald eagles were like pidgeons in some parts of town. Despite its majestic image, the birds are serious scavengers, and they tend to feed on roadkill. People are always running them over.

Bird watching mellowed me out, and changed my life. I've done it ever since. Growing up in Brooklyn, where the only birds you see on a regular basis are sparrows and pidgeons, suddenly seeing these unusual creatures regularly can bowl you over. I never talked much about my hobby, and only years later found out that many of my friends have also been longtime bird watchers. There's Michael T., who had a Sibley guide sitting in the backseat of his car one night. There's Walter up in San Francisco, who recently began posting photos of the Herons he's been watching at the pond near the Palace of Fine Arts (click on "Walter Kitundu" in my links section to see the pictures for yourself). He sent me a great pic of a Great Blue Heron flying off with a groundhog in its mouth. And there's me, still watching birds and looking them up in my now dog-eared Sibley Guide. New cities bring new birds, and LA has been no exception. I recently found out that lots of the city's birds congregate down on the LA river. Unlike in movies such as Repo Man, Grease, Terminator 2 and countless others (in which only the concrete-encased portion of the river is shown) there are actually parts of the river that still have a natural bottom. Drinking the water would mean instant sickness for a person, but birds simply love the area. Everything from cliff swallows to herons can be seen there, and it's one of the many nice little secrets of the city. All Angelenos should check it out, though I know few ever will.

What's the point of all this? Maybe it's that bird watching is something I feel city kids (and adults) can appreciate more than most others, simply because it is so easy to take urban wildlife for granted, if you're able to see it at all. My house is surrounded by so many feral cats that they've killed seemingly every bird within a mile of it, except for crows, a couple of mourning doves and a hawk that camps out in the palm tree in my front yard. Remember when a few intrepid souls introduced the sport of fencing to kids in Harlem? No one thought city kids would want to do the sport, and now some of the best fencers in America hail from that neighborhood. If you have or know any kids and you live in the city,tell them to start looking to the sky at their neighborhood birds. Even "ugly" birds can be fascinating to watch. Bird behavior is amazing. They have territories. They have heirarchies. They form gangs. Crows are among the most intelligent animals in the world. Watch a gang of them work. Watch how one sits on the telephone pole as a lookout while his crew dives into a pile of trash for a quick meal. Listen as he calls a warning when an approaching cat gets too close. Watch as two runners distract the cat while the rest of his crew make off with the remainder of the food. Birds form their own unique urban communities, complete with different races, shapes and sizes. For a kid in the city, understanding birds might just be a key to understanding life.

Oh, and in case you're wondering:

This aint no Tree
Originally uploaded by RicKarr.

Here's what a Pileated Woodpecker looks like.