By John Roach, contributor
Introduction
Birders are a dedicated lot – rising at dawn to catch a glimpse of their feathered friends, traveling hundreds of miles to follow up on sightings reported in online discussion groups, and willing to stand still and silent for hours on end in hopes that their target du jour will flutter into view. Cornell University birder Nathan Banfield, shown here, patiently looks for signs of the ivory-billed woodpecker in an Arkansas swamp forest, following up on a reported sighting in 2004. Click the \"Next\" arrow above to learn about 10 sightings of elusive and rare birds, including the woodpecker Banfield hopes to see."; Tech_BirdSightings[i++] = new Array("","Ivory-billed woodpecker: Dead or alive?","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060519/060519_woodpecker_vmed_1aa.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "AP file", "273", "210", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); Tech_BirdSightings[i-1].body = "
Ivory-billed woodpecker: Dead or alive?
Ornithologists have been atwitter ever since amateur birder Gene Sparling sighted an ivory-billed woodpecker while kayaking in Arkansas's Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in 2004. That marked the first sighting of the black-and-white bird, shown here in an artist's rendering, since 1944. The surprise 2004 sighting raised the specter that the birds with a distinctive double-rap sound are knocking out a living in the swampy forests of the southeastern United States. Scientists armed with digital video cameras, audio recording devices, GPS tracking equipment and loads of patience have flooded likely haunts in Arkansas and Florida ever since. They’ve found pecked trees and have heard the distinctive call, but a convincing photograph remains elusive.";
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New bird seen in Colombian forest
Researchers exploring a little-known mountain range in northern Colombia discovered a colorful bird new to science. The Yariguies brush-finch has black, yellow and red plumage and was named for the indigenous tribe that once inhabited the mountains where it lives. Scientists officially described the bird in 2006. \"It is surprising that this new brush-finch and the forests of the Yariguies Mountains could remain unstudied, undescribed and unprotected for so long,\" biologist Thomas Donegan of the Colombian conservation group ProAves said. Due in part to his team's efforts, the region has been protected as a national park.";
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Hummingbirds vs. the cocaine trade
The gorgeted puffleg, a rare hummingbird with shiny blue-and-green plumage on its throat, was first seen in 2005. Conservationists are concerned that its days are numbered, because its cloud forest habitat in southwestern Colombia is quickly being converted to plantations of coca, the raw ingredient for cocaine. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Birdlife International recently added the hummingbird, shown here, to the list of the world's most threatened species. The known population of 25 lives in just 3,000 acres of forest.";
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Tiny, rare owl in the wilds of Peru
An owl the size of a human fist with long, wispy feathers that stream out from its reddish-orange eyes was recently spied for the first time in the wild. The long-whiskered owlet was discovered in 1976 when researchers caught a few specimens in nets after dark. Researchers working in a private nature reserve in northern Peru in 2007 caught three daylight glimpses of the bird and recorded its calls at night. Several photos of a captured owl, including the one shown here, were also taken. The owl was later released. Conservationists estimate the population at less than 1,000, and perhaps as few as 250.";
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Tribute to a fallen adventurer
Beck's petrel, a dark and slender seabird relative of albatrosses and shearwaters, was recently rediscovered in a group of Pacific islands near Papua New Guinea. The bird hadn't been sighted since 1929. Israeli ornithologist Hadoram Shirihai’s recent sighting was documented in several photographs and confirmed by Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Birdlife International. An earlier sighting in Australia was rejected because the photographs were not clear. Conservationists say the bird is threatened by rats and cats at its breeding grounds, as well as logging and clearing of its habitats for oil palm plantations.";
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Warbler shows up after 139-year gap
Until March 27, 2006, the large-billed reed warbler shown here was known from only one specimen collected in India in 1867. Some scientists doubted it was a unique species, thinking instead that it was an aberrant individual of a common species. Then ornithologist Philip Round stumbled upon a wild, living specimen while banding birds at a wastewater treatment plant near Bangkok, Thailand. DNA samples confirmed its uniqueness. Six months later, a second specimen was discovered at the Natural History Museum at Tring, England. Scientists are hoping to find more of the birds, as they know little about them.";
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Myanmar gives hope to sandpiper
The recent discovery of wintering grounds for several dozen spoon-billed sandpipers in Myanmar (Burma) offers a glimmer of hope for the critically endangered species, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Birdlife International. The birds, with spatula-shaped bills, are shown here on a beach in Thailand, another locale for wintering birds that breed in Siberia. According to Birdlife International, the sandpiper population has crashed from several thousand pairs to just a few hundred. Among its myriad threats are habitat loss to shrimp farms and coastal development, accidental entanglement in fishing nets, and nests destroyed by foraging dogs.";
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Birders flock to glimpse pine flycatcher
The little bird shown here on a twiggy branch in Choke Canyon State Park, Texas, created a stir in the birding world just because it showed up where it did in January 2009. Ornithologists believe the beige and yellow bird is a pine flycatcher. If confirmed, it would be the first sighting of the bird in the United States. The solitary birds usually make their home in the mountain forests of Mexico and Guatemala. How and why this bird showed up in Texas \"is anybody's guess,\" John Arvin, research coordinator at the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, told The Associated Press. ";
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Arctic gull alights in California's Salton Sea
Birders were delighted when this Ross's gull alighted in California's Salton Sea in November 2006. The gull is much more common in the Arctic, where it breeds in Siberia and Greenland and only rarely shows up south of Alaska. The sighting was first reported by Guy McCaskie, co-author of \"Birds of Salton Sea,\" who posted it to an Internet news group, The Associated Press reported. Within days, birders from all over the region had flocked to the shore for a gander. ";
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Study of endangered penguin leads to extinct bird
Scientists studying how populations of the rare and endangered yellow-eyed penguin, shown here, have changed since human settlement in New Zealand discovered a previously unknown species of penguin that went extinct about 500 years ago. The team identified the genetic signature of the extinct species, called the Waitaha penguin, while testing DNA from what they thought were bones of the yellow-eyed penguin. The DNA and other differences led them to conclude the bones belonged to the closely related, now extinct bird. The find suggests that the first humans on New Zealand hunted the Waitaha to extinction, opening up a niche for the yellow-eyed penguin to fill. The yellow-eyed penguin is considered one of the world's rarest penguins; about 7,000 are thought to live in New Zealand.";
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