Thursday, April 28, 6:30 pm – Ghost Bird
To kick-off the 6th annual Birds and Bards Festival, The Arnold Arboretum, the Boston Nature Center, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, and the Franklin Park Coalition will screen the movie Ghost Bird —a fascinating look at the controversial “rediscovery†of the extinct (or is it?) Ivory-billed woodpecker.
The screening will take place at 6:30pm on Thursday, April 28th at the Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street, Mattapan, Massachusetts 02126.
In 2005, scientists announced that the Ivory-billed woodpecker, a species thought to be extinct for 60 years, had been found in the swamps of Eastern Arkansas. Other creatures have wrongly been presumed extinct, but the reappearance of the Ivory-bill was celebrated around the world as the rediscovery of a lifetime, prompting the largest recovery effort ever undertaken for a lost species. Millions of dollars poured in from the government while ornithologists and birders flooded the swamps to find the rare bird.
Down the road, the town of Brinkley, Arkansas – itself on the brink of extinction – was transformed by the hope, commerce and controversy surrounding their feathered friend. But continued sightings by expert birders only highlighted the mysterious absence of credible evidence. Now six years later, the woodpecker remains as elusive as ever. Ghost Bird brings the Ivory-bill’s blurry rediscovery into focus revealing our uneasy relationship with nature and the increasing uncertainty of our place within it.
Following the film, there will be a panel discussion about the state of conservation and endangered species in Massachusetts and around the world. Experts from three of the leading conservation organizations in MA will be available to answer questions:
Pearl Yusuf, Asst. Curator of the Hooves and Horns, Franklin Park Zoo
Joan Walsh, Director of Bird Monitoring, Mass Audubon
Wayne Klockner, Director of the Massachusetts Program of The Nature Conservancy
For more info visit
http://arboretum.harvard.edu/news-events/birds-and-bards/
http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/Sanctuaries/Boston/news.php?id=1430&event=no
Contact: Marc Devokaitis 617.384.5209 marc_devokaitis@harvard.edu
