I believe that it is just because ornithology is not my cup of tea, but I cannot recall any movie or documentary about birds that I find myself having to watch again. Ghost Bird is a film for casual fans of documentaries as well as those that wish to use it as a teaching tool.
Ghost Bird is a documentary about the Ivory-billed woodpecker, a bird that was thought to have perished in toto well over 50 years ago.
Rumblings about sightings of this bird became legion, and in 2004, scientists were able to declare that the species had not completely given up the ghost. Where documentaries struggle with providing some sort of humanity to the subjects that they are focused on, Ghost Bird is able to create an extreme emotional reaction that will have even casual watchers championing the cause of the Ivory-billed woodpecker. A little bit of drama, a little bit of comedy, and Ghost Bird’s 85 minutes will scream by.
Besides the feature, there are a number of additional features that are present on this DVD. “A Closer Look” bumps up the video content of the film to well over two hours, while “The Sound & The Fury: Past Searches” show exactly how elusive the Ivory-billed woodpecker has been in the past. The Educational Resource Guide allows for high school and college-level teachers to incorporate Ghost Bird into their classes, while the time line present in the Guide will enlighten further the frame in which the bird thrived, became extinct, and was found again. Other featurettes, such as further footage and description about Tim Barksdale and the possibility of errant photographic description (“Six Pixels”) flesh out this documentary.
Rating: 9.3/10
Ghost Bird (DVD) / 2011 Microcinema / 85 Minutes / http://www.microcinemadvd.com