A decade ago, Tim Gallagher was one of the rediscoverers of the legendary ivory-billed woodpecker, which most scientists believed had been extinct for more than half a century—nowGallagher once again hits the trail, journeying deep into Mexico’s savagely beautiful Sierra Madre Occidental, home to rich wildlife, as well as to Mexican drug cartels, in a perilous quest to locate the most elusive bird in the world—the imperial woodpecker.
The imperial woodpecker’s trumpetlike calls and distinctive hammering on massive pines once echoed through the high forests. Two feet tall, with deep black plumage, a brilliant snow-white shield on its back, and a crimson crest, the imperial woodpecker had largely disappeared fifty years ago, though reports persist of the bird still flying through remote mountain stands. In an attempt to find and protect the imperial woodpecker in its last habitat, Gallagher is guided by a map of sightings of this natural treasure of the Sierra Madre, bestowed on him by a friend on his deathbed. Charged with continuing the quest of a line of distinguished naturalists, including the great Aldo Leopold, Gallagher treks through this mysterious, historically untamed and untamable territory. Here, where an ancient petroglyph of the imperial can still be found, Geronimo led Apaches in their last stand, William Randolph Hearst held a storied million-acre ranch, and Pancho Villa once roamed, today ruthless drug lords terrorize residents and steal and strip the land.
Gallagher’s passionate quest takes a harrowing turn as he encounters armed drug traffickers, burning houses, and fleeing villagers. His mission becomes a life-and-death drama that will keep armchair adventurers enthralled as he chases truth in the most dangerous of habitats.
Tim Gallagheris an author, wildlife photographer, magazine editor, and former editor-in-chief of Living Bird, the magazine of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. He helped bring to light the only living images of an Imperial ever taken. He is the author of Imperial Dreams, as well as Parts Unknown, The Grail Bird, Falcon Fever, Wild Bird Photography, and Born to Fish. He resides in Freeville, New York.
What People are Saying About This
Julie Zickefoose
“Gallagher is a wonderful storyteller with the brain of an ornithologist and the nerve of a spelunker. Every time I put this book down, I picked it up again to take in just one more chapter, lured onward by the same tantalizing shards of evidence that kept Gallagher in the game, aghast at the risks he took, immersed in the cold, forbidding landscape; enthralled by the scimitar-clawed grip of the world’s largest woodpecker on his—and my— imagination.”
Tony Huston
“The most delightful and fascinating magpie of a memoir, told with panache, verve, and honesty.”
Stephen Bodio
"Tim Gallagher's Imperial Dreams is unique, a blend of natural and tragic human history and Indiana Jones-style adventure. Imagine venturing into the mountainous heart of Mexico's narcotraficante country armed only with pictures of a great bird that may or may not be extinct. This is Tim Gallagher's most exciting book, and may be his best.
David Allen Sibley
“A unique and personal perspective on what could be one of the most significant ornithological events of the last hundred years.”
