The Ivory-billed Woodpecker, thought to be extinct for over 60 years, was sighted recently by an Arkansas naturalist and later documented by a team of ornithologists from Cornell University.

Among the researchers from Cornell was former Mt. Hood Community College student Gerrit Vyn. Vyn was accepted into the Cornell graduate program after completing wildlife classes at MHCC to supplement his bachelor’s degree in business and his experience in the Peace Corps.

Vyn is also an accomplished photographer, an asset that helped land him on the team searching for the bird, according to Walter Shriner, who taught Vyn at MHCC.
The Ivory-billed Woodpecker, last seen in 1935, was driven to supposed extinction by the decimation of its habitat in the United States’ Southern delta regions and its desirability as a target for sport hunters and bird collectors, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The bird is the largest woodpecker in North America, with a wingspan of about three feet and a length of about 20 inches.

Naturalist Gene Sparling of Hot Springs, Ark., spotted the bird while kayaking through the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge. Sparling’s web postings about the sightings caught the attention of the editor of Cornell’s Living Bird Magazine, Tim Gallagher. A year-long search, involving more than 50 experts and field biologists, resulted in a video of what is clearly an Ivory-billed woodpecker and an article in Science magazine announcing the bird’s rediscovery.

Walter Shriner, instructor of ecology, evolution and wildlife biology for MHCC, assisted Vyn in choosing Cornell as the place for his graduate studies. Of the historic discovery and Vyn’s role in it Shiner said, "It’s really exciting. This is a chance to save a magnificent bird."