Using sounds and illustrated
stories, I describe the vital roles that birds play in fostering
conservation
of biological diversity throughout the world. Most important, birds
represent
our most accessible and sensitive indicator of ecological change. The
Internet
provides individual citizens unprecedented opportunity to provide data
that
answer important questions about bird populations at continental
scales. Now
humans can serve as worldwide biosphere sensors, but do we have the
will to
self-correct? Birds present us with motivation to do so and a barometer
for
measuring our successes and failures. Rediscovery of the Ivory-billed
Woodpecker provides a clear case in point. I will describe the
rediscovery,
outline the science involved in our search for breeding pairs, and
discuss what
this spectacular “Lord God Bird” teaches us about both human nature and
environmental protection.