| CUBA 2003: Searching for information on the Ivorybill |
| A Trip Back in Time I spent time in Cuba in February 2003 to do some investigation on the possibility there are remaining Ivorybills in remote areas. If there are, a likely place to look would be eastern Cuba. This trip was more information gathering than anything else. Searching for the bird would require much longer than a week. I flew to Holguin on Feb.15th 2003 and rented a car. I drove south to Bayamo and east to Santiago de Cuba where I stayed the night. The next day I continued past Guantanamo and into the mountains near Baracoa. This was relatively close to one of the largest national parks in Cuba - Parque Nacional Alejandro de Humboldt. It stretches for miles in all directions into areas that are unexplored and almost unpopulated. Travelling around in Cuba was like going back in time to an old country western city. There are old 1950 Chevy and Ford cars from before the embargo and life is slow, relaxing and enjoyable. Horse-drawn wagons with wooden spokes are one of the main modes of transportation in most outlying cities. There are very few new cars and it's hard to find Coca Cola. Forget about fast food. Cowboys are seen everywhere on horseback there is no hint of modern technology anywhere. It was great to see that some parts of this world are still untouched. Cuba seems stuck in time - in the 1950s, perhaps. The scene was prophetic, given that I was searching for a bird seen only a few times since the 1950s. |
| The pine forests of eastern Cuba: where I had been thinking of going since my interest in the Ivorybill developed 15 years ago after I got my first National Geographic bird guide. In the book it describes Cuba as being one of last possible places to find it. Arriving at the park I was guided to a bird chart in a little hut at one of the entrances to this vast area. I was interested in talking with the man who would show me around, a man who might know something about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. He showed me the birds on the chart. The Ivorybill stood out. I didn't recognize many of the other birds but the Ivorybill looked more flamboyant than anything else on that chart. I asked him what he knew. "El Carpintero Real es en peligro de extincion" he said. I knew right away that meant "The Ivorybill is in danger of extinction". Just to be in a park where the Ivorybill is shown on the bird chart is exciting to me, and to talk further with this man was incredible. Diogene was his name, and he knew the forest well. He was hired back in 1987 to help preserve the area and to teach people how to protect the wildlife. He continued to tell me how unexplored the area is. To hike to the top of the nearest mountain would take a whole day. That is what we did. However, to hike further in would take 4-5 days. It is steep and there are no trails. There is heavy undergrowth and the trees are enormous, the tops of which are lost in the canopy. He said the birds have not been seen since the late 1980s. In his opinion there is still a possibility that a few birds exist "en el nucleo" - in the center of the park, where only a few people have been. Those who have studied the Ivorybill are fully aware of the searches that took place in that very area in 1991 and 1993, coming up empty. Diogene still believes, as do I, that the area is vast enough and remote enough that the birds could have escaped detection. He said that it would take at least 4 days of hiking to get into some of the prime areas. I pictured the Tanner expeditions and the mule-drawn wagons - which almost certainly would have to be used in Cuba. The road itself to get to the park was almost impassable. It went from rugged pavement to gravel, then to dirt and then to mud. Finally, near the park entrance it was made of stones and boulders. The little car I had was not really sufficient. Basically this area is untouched and inaccessible, which is good for Ivorybills. |
| After gathering information I could sum it up as follows: The park workers are familiar with the birds (right up to the nest hole circumpherence!) and the type of habitat required. They seem to believe that the birds exist but that nobody has seen them. I believe anything is possible. After leaving the Baracoa area I headed west towards the Sierra Maestra and the Santo Domingo area. They have a lodge with cabins and tour guides as well. The Sierra Maestra is an even larger, more daunting mountain range than what I had previously seen. The local bird expert again showed me his book with the Ivorybill pictured and the same type of bird chart that was at the Alejandro de Humboldt park. He also said that the bird has not been seen in years and that he had participated in 2 expeditions to find it with no luck, the most recent being in 1996. He also believes that a few birds may live in the Sierra Maestra although it's not clear if the Ivorybill was ever seen in this mountain range. I went on a one day hike of 11 miles to the top of one of the mountains. The habitat was ideal the further in we went. Some pines were 4 feet in diameter and close to 100 feet tall. According to this guide, Luis Angel, the trees were 100 years old. On the side of the mountain some of deciduous trees were equally as large. There were other woodpeckers in the area, including Cuban Red-bellied Woodpecker, which at 12 inches, was tough to see in the monstrous trees. Luis pointed to an area in the distance where he said there is an ongoing search for Ivorybills. I was not expecting to see the bird but nevertheless I was still hoping that at any moment one would fly in! |