Why a rare bird that vanished 30 years ago might soon return

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The last time anyone spotted a red-cockaded woodpecker in Tennessee, Bill Clinton was in his first term in the White House. Tom Hanks was starring as Forrest Gump on the silver screen, and a new television show named “Friends” was a month from hitting the airwaves.

More than three decades after that last known sighting in the summer of 1994, state and federal officials have an ambitious plan to bring back the imperiled bird to the Volunteer State, part of an effort to expand the range and population of a keystone species that once flourished across the Southeast before it veered toward extinction.

“Not too many people get to be part of bringing a species back to their state,” said David Hanni, a bird conservation biologist with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. “It’s an awesome opportunity.”

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The strategy detailed by state and federal officials involves restoring an ideal habitat for the red-cockaded woodpecker on about 1,200 acres inside the Savage Gulf State Natural Area, two hours southeast of Nashville. Despite its name, the robin-size bird is largely black and white, aside from a tiny red streak found on the side of the male’s head, and prefers deep nesting cavities in mature pine forests.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/why-rare-bird-vanished-30-145842879.html