This is superb – every American bird book I have, the ones of the coffee-table variety at least – cites this creature as a tragic example of extinction, along with the Passenger Pigeon and others:

[news.bbc.co.uk]

The spectacular ivory-billed woodpecker, which was declared extinct in 1920, has been found alive in North America, Science magazine reports.

The news has stunned ornithologists worldwide, with some comparing the discovery to finding the dodo.

Researchers began an intense year-long search after a tip-off before finally capturing the bird on video.

The find has ignited hope that other “extinct” birds may be clinging on to survival in isolated places.

‘Finding Elvis’

“This find is so significant that it is really difficult to describe,” Alistair Gammell, of the UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), told BBC News. “We sadly won’t rediscover the dodo, but it is almost on that level.”

Frank Gill, of the US National Audubon Society, added: “This is huge, just huge. It is kind of like finding Elvis.”

…continues at [news.bbc.co.uk]