Ivory-billed Woodpeckers by John James Audubon

Travel back in time with this article from February 3rd, 1954 titled Fabulous Bird Species Near Extinction.

This article was in the Register-Guard newspaper from Eugene, Oregon. The author discusses some birds that have already gone extinct and some that are very close to extinction at that particular time.

From the 1954 article:

Rarest and most dramatic birds in North America today are giant Condor, tall Whooping Crane and Ivory-billed Woodpecker of the Louisiana swamps. They are on the threshold of extinction. Perhaps in our lifetime, they may join the spectral society of the great auk, heath hen, passenger pigeon. Carolina parakeet, Labrador duck and Eskimo curlew.

Although I wish it wasn’t true, it’s very likely that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker has been lost forever.

From the 1954 article:

Of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, possibly two dozen are alive … although some experts state they are all gone.

Fortunately, California Condors and Whooping Cranes are still around today.

This article is a reminder of how fragile our world really is. Yet it is also an example of what hard work and dedication can do to save species from extinction.

Read the full article and the see the rest of the newspaper here: [Fabulous Bird Species Near Extinction]