The Grail Bird: The Rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker

I first came across this book in my local library when I was just casually going through the nature section looking for anything good to read about one of my favorite topics, nature. I had never heard of this book before, but I knew something about its subject the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. I knew that it was supposedly extinct, but that a few sightings of this bird had propelled it into the realm of Cryptozoology. So naturally I was intrigued. As with all books I find in the library I sat down and read a few pages in order to determine if I wanted to check it out or not. Before I knew it I had read three chapters in their entirety and was well into the fourth. This book is much more than just retelling the history of the bird, its decline, and the supposed sightings of it. Oh yes that is all here, but like I said it is so much more than that. It is about a man and his quest to try and solve a mystery and to fully explore the worlds he loves nature and ornithology. In his quest he encounters colorful characters, beautiful landscapes, and even what may be the ghost of the bottomlands itself. With his writing style you come away with vivid images of the great Southern wilderness and a true understanding for a man and his passion for nature. Although one thing I did find strange was his constant refuting of wanting to be lumped together with people interested in pursuing Bigfoot and the like. I know the reluctance to want to be associated with some of these people, I think we can all name a few, but I’m sorry when you hunt extinct animals long after their supposed extinction weather large or small you are firmly in the realm of Cryptozoology. The only problem I have is that discovering this book a full seven years after it was written some of the optimism is lost when you read about how some future events unfolded that where happening as the book was being written. But that is not the author’s fault. This is the danger of reading any book about Cryptids years after they were published you run the risk of the information being out dated if new developments and discoveries are made between then and when you are first reading it. Despite being a few years old and some information now obsolete, I still highly recommend this book. It has humor, good clear writing, and fills you with the a sense of wonder and hope that maybe just ,maybe the wrongs of our past are not so complete that they might be rectified.

This is the account of one mans quest to find the legendary Ivory-billed Woodpecker, a missing piece of the American ecosystem. The author details his travels through the deep south, tramping through impenetrable bush and bayou, and the people he meets.He also relates the tragic history of this charismatic bird itself, and the sheer human greed and exploitation that relentlessly destroyed its habitat. It’s hardly surprising that the ivory-bills disappeared when even up to the 1960’s people were still shooting them dead just to prove they had seen one. Not to mention the wholesale conversion of forests and swamps into sterile farmland for commercial gain.It reads as a little bit rambling, but in an enjoyable way. The author maintains focus and it reads like something of a detective story, which holds the readers interest. He evokes well the range of feelings and excitement associated with birding. It is overall quite pleasant and easy to get through. The sightings seem convincing, although 16 years of subsequent searching has yet failed to provide any unambiguous documentation or confirmation that this species still exists.

Me I loved this book. I am writing a children’s book on the Ivory-Billed woodpecker and this book provided me with much of the history of the Ivory-Billed woodpecker. It is also very entertaining.

I loved the way the author brought to life the characters in this story! I could hear the accent of their southern dialect and experience the unique personality of each individual. I could hear the birds call, feel the frosty air, and hear the water slapping the sides of the boat as they made their way through the swamp in search of the ever elusive Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The thing is that I was able to judge for myself how credible each sighting was and in the end I was compelled to go to the websites listed in the back of the book and hear what they had recorded as evidence that this bird still lives! I was amazed when they convinced me that indeed it does still exsist!

I must note I haven't finished the book yet but I am about 2/3 of the way through and am eager to finish. I am a long-gime birder forestry/forest biology major so this is an exciting story to me in the first place - a creature long thought extinct now possibly confirmed as still existing in the wild. But Gallagher is a very good writer. He develops background information as he tells his own story and does so while building suspense. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the story. And this newer paper back version I am reading has a newer "afterword" which gives some updates to the story as well. I recommend it.

This is a well told story that kept my interest throughout even though I am a fairly unknowledgeable birder. The dedication and stamina of these people is awesome. And the task is so difficult you could forgive anyone who doesn't see the search to it's end. Easy to read, easy to follow even if you know next to nothing about birds. Give it a try!

Amazing story with an amazing bunch of characters. Truly enjoyed reading this account of rediscovering this amazing bird. Highly recommend this to any outdoor loving person.

I bought this book initially because I heard an interview with the author on CBC radio. I am an amateur birder, and have seen stuffed specimens of the ivory-billed woodpecker, the subject of this book and the author's search. My belief, commonly-held, was that it was extinct. To my surprise, the author chronicles his sighting of the woodpecker, and similiar sightings by others, dispelling that belief. There is now hope (and, so far, only hope) for the future of this bird.Tim Gallagher is a journalist, and not a scientist. This is evident in his writing in that the story unfolds easily and in a way that keeps you reading. He fills out the narrative with the personalities of the people with him, making it more than a scientific paper. I found myself consulting the small map that is at the beginning of the book, and then in more detail on Google maps. I imagined myself there!I hope there will be second installment.

The start of the book was great - the first couple chapters that summarized sightings from the 1930s to 2004 were really interesting. The first hand detail of the author's (and others) sightings in 2004 were also interesting.But I don't think there was enough material for a real book, because after that there is just a ton of filler. The author travels around meeting with everyone still alive who ever says they saw one, or their widow, or their old friends, and he provides copious detail on the roads to get there, his friend he travels with, the appearance and personality of all the people he meets.... I barely even bothered to skim several chapters.The only other interesting, but depressing, part is the comparison of the habitat in the swamps and woods of the southern USA when the author was there in 2004, with how it was described in the writings of early ornithologists. The terrible loss to logging and agriculture is horrifying.I'd only recommend the book for people very, very, VERY interested in Ivory Billed woodpeckers.