Cross-species genetics are a factor of science all but untouched by ethical scientists today, yet the fact of the matter is that with enough effort and research and proper testing, warfare and indeed life itself would be drastically different. In this sense, the basis of "The Ghost Bird" starts with such experiments being covertly conducted throughout the mid 20th century, and the results, although beyond what could've been imagined, were horrifying. Furthermore, man in this surreal existence has had to deal with this mistake for just short of 100 years, and all while keeping the public eye blind to this plague of Bird Men.

Unseen for more than sixty years and thought to be extinct, interest in the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker exploded in 2004 when two birders reported capturing the bird on film while searching a bottomland forest in Arkansas. STAKING THE GHOST BIRD examines the lengthy debate over the ivory-bill's status by examining the reported sightings and extensive efforts to find the rare bird in Louisiana. In this absorbing study, author Steinberg turns his lifelong interest in the majestic ivory-billed woodpecker into a tale that encapsulates both the mystery and intrigue surrounding the legendary bird.

Legend has it the ghost bird would roam the ancient town of Nambour in the dead of night, with low mournful cries near the homes of those who would die mysteriously before morning. No-one had ever seen the bird but many had heard its mournful song and shook at the sound of eerie giant, flapping wings. Will Ethan and James find the elusive Ghost Bird?

“Everyone who is interested in the ivory-billed woodpecker will want to read this book—from scientists who wish to examine the data from all the places Tanner explored to the average person who just wants to read a compelling story.” —Tim Gallagher, author of The Grail Bird: The Rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker In 1935 naturalist James T. Tanner was a twenty-one-year-old graduate student when he saw his first ivory-billed woodpecker, one of America’s Istudent when he saw his first ivory-billed woodpecker, one of America’s rarest birds, in a remote swamp in northern Louisiana. At the time, he rarest birds, in a remote swamp in northern Louisiana. At the time, he was part of an ambitious expedition traveling across the country to record and photograph as many avian species as possible, a trip organized by Dr. Arthur Allen, founder of the famed Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Two years later, Tanner hit the road again, this time by himself and in search of only one species—that ever-elusive ivory-bill. Sponsored by Cornell and the Audubon Society, Jim Tanner’s work would result in some of the most extensive field research ever conducted on the magnificent woodpecker. Drawing on Tanner’s personal journals and written with the cooperation of his widow, Nancy, Ghost Birds recounts, in fascinating detail, the scientist’s dogged quest for the ivory-bill as he chased down leads in eight southern states. With Stephen Lyn Bales as our guide, we experience the same awe and excitement that Tanner felt when he returned to the Louisiana wetland he had visited earlier and was able to observe and document several of the “ghost birds”—including a nestling that he handled, banded, and photographed at close range. Investigating the ivory-bill was particularly urgent because it was a fast-vanishing species, the victim of indiscriminant specimen hunting and widespread logging that was destroying its habitat. As sightings became rarer and rarer in the decades following Tanner’s remarkable research, the bird was feared to have become extinct. Since 2005, reports of sightings in Arkansas and Florida made headlines and have given new hope to ornithologists and bird lovers, although extensive subsequent investigations have yet to produce definitive confirmation. Before he died in 1991, Jim Tanner himself had come to believe that the majestic woodpeckers were probably gone forever, but he remained hopeful that someone would prove him wrong. This book fully captures Tanner’s determined spirit as he tracked down what was then, as now, one of ornithology’s true Holy Grails. STEPHEN LYN BALES is a naturalist at the Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is the author of Natural Histories, published by UT Press in 2007.

Nobody ever passed the old Garvan house alone; gossip and suspicion surrounded it. But when an eerie cry draws Meg, Pete and Harvey into its grounds, little do they expect to be swept up into a love story that spans the century. What part do the dilapidated house, a mysterious old man and a strange bird play in this story and how can Meg, Pete and Harvey right the wrongs of history?

A Mennonite brother and sister move with their parents to a reputedly haunted house on Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania and resolve several mysteries while also helping their ornithologist father establish a bird refuge.