Looking for Clues

Earlier this year, amateur bird-watchers Eric Ward and Scott Curtis decided to try their luck at catching a glimpse of the rare ivory-billed woodpecker in the Big Woods of Arkansas. That's the last place North America's largest woodpecker was sighted, in 2004. "It's hardwood, bottomland forest swamp, so it's very bleak in wintertime, with no leaves on the trees," Curtis says of the habitat. "But there's a surprising amount of life there." They counted 66 bird species, including seven species of woodpeckers. Sadly, Curtis and Ward didn't see any of the ivory-billed. Tonight at 6, the reference librarians discuss why in the lecture "Vanishing Habitat, Vanishing Species: In Search of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker" at the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology (5109 Cherry). Call 816-926-8739 for details. Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology
Mon., March 10, 6 p.m., 2008