Today the ecological and environmental world was abuzz when it became public that a bird long thought extinct was conclusively sighted in Arkansas. In fact, the ivory-billed woodpecker was last sighted over 60 years ago. There were unconfirmed sightings over the past few years that led to fruitless searches, but now they have videotaped evidence to back them up.

It’s not everyday that an “extinct” species is rediscovered. And it’s cause for rejoicing among environmentalists.

Events like this make me hope that something similar might occur for some species of birds here in the Islands. One species of bird in particular, the po‘ouli, has been in critical decline. And even that is an understatement. There are now only two known members of that species, and it’s not known if they are a reproducing pair.

I know it’s wishful thinking, but I wonder if we’ve only scratched the surface. Perhaps there are a few more po‘ouli hiding out there, and they may make a comeback as well, just as the ivory-billed woodpecker did.

Well, I can dream, can’t I?

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 28th, 2005 at 7:59 pm and is filed under Hawaii. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.