ADO: ActiveX Data Objects

Colophon

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The bird on the cover of ADO: ActiveX Data Objects is an ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis ). Considered extinct by many naturalists and ornithologists (the last confirmed sighting was in the 1950s), the “ivory-bill” was never abundant in its habitat, the southeastern United States and Cuba. With glossy black plumage, white markings, and a red tufted crest (males only), the ivory-bill looks extremely similar to the pileated woodpecker, with whom it also shared its habitat. The similarities between the two birds has been the cause of much trouble, as eager amateurs add to unconfirmed sighting reports of the ivory-bill when they have probably spotted the pileated woodpecker. This is especially troublesome for naturalists who hold out hope that the ivory-bill may still exist in the far reaches of Louisiana forests or in Cuba. In the early 1990s, many nature and birding groups spent considerable amounts of money mounting search efforts for the ivory-bill.

As do all woodpeckers, the ivory-bill has a chisel-like bill and a long, hard-tipped, sticky tongue; the first for drilling and scaling bark, the latter for retrieving beetles and grubs on which to feed. Retrieving food in this manner, however, is not what creates the ...