Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Did a Phoenix rise from the ashes? This month a segment airing on Texas Parks and Wildlife Television chases a ghost. Producer, Abe Moore, explains.

Well, a couple of years ago, the Ivory Billed Woodpecker was thought to have been seen in Arkansas. It was an incredible frenzy.

The whole ornithological community was just electrified by this. The bird had been thought extinct for sixty years.

And now there’s a team here in Texas that spent six months looking for it out in the Big Thicket area in east Texas. So we followed them for six months – went out with them –to look for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker.

What was it like for you to see these people in action?

Well, I was amazed at the technology.

Turn the volume [knocks]. Double knocks. [knocks] We use playback to call Ivory-Bills. The idea being the bird will hear its own species call and want to come and check it out.

Well, it’s also a profile on more than just the Ivory-Billed – it’s some of woodpeckers that you find in Texas. The common pileated, which people think is an Ivory Billed Woodpecker because they look similar.

Do you have a new appreciation for this bird?

Absolutely! I love the woodpeckers, and now when I hear them in my neighborhood, I’m like – oh, I know that call.

Will you be teaching your kids about these birds?

I already am. Absolutely. She knows the calls of the Red-bellied in our neighborhood.

Thanks Abe. Visit us online at passporttotexas.org to find a complete listing of stations that air the series.

That’s our show for today…for Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Texas Parks and Wildlife on PBS and Cable
Stations and Air Times
Times and dates are subject to change, especially during PBS membership drives.

• Amarillo, KACV-TV, Channel 2: October–March, Saturday 6 p.m.
• Austin, KLRU-TV, Channel 18: Monday, 12:30 p.m.; Friday 5:30 a.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. KLRU2, Cable 20: Tuesday, 11 p.m.
• Bryan-College Station, KAMU-TV, Channel 15: Sunday, 5 p.m.; Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Corpus Christi, KEDT-TV, Channel 16: Sunday, 12 p.m.; Friday, 2 p.m.
• Dallas-Fort Worth, KERA-TV, Channel 13: October–March, Saturday, 6 p.m. Also serving Abilene, Denton, Longview, Marshall, San Angelo, Texarkana, Tyler, Wichita Falls and Sherman.
• El Paso, KCOS-TV, Channel 13: Saturday, 3 p.m.
• Harlingen, KMBH-TV, Channel 60: Sunday, 5 p.m. Also serving McAllen, Mission and Brownsville.
• Houston, KUHT-TV, Channel 8: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.; Friday 1:30 p.m. Also serving Beaumont, Port Arthur, Galveston, Texas City and Victoria.
• Killeen, KNCT-TV, Channel 46: Sunday, 5 p.m. Also serving Temple.
• Lubbock, KTXT-TV, Channel 5: Saturday, 10 a.m.
• Odessa-Midland, KPBT-TV, Channel 36: Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
• San Antonio and Laredo, KLRN-TV, Channel 9: Sunday, 1 p.m.
• Waco, KWBU-TV, Channel 34: Saturday, 3 p.m.
• Portales, New Mexico, KENW-TV, Channel 3: Sunday, 2:30 p.m.
• The New York Network, NYN, Thursday 8:30 p.m.; Saturday 2:30 p.m. Serving the Albany area.

Cable

Texas Parks & Wildlife can also be seen on a variety of government, educational and access cable channels in the following communities: Abilene, Allen, Atlanta, Boerne, Collin County Community College, Coppell, Del Mar College, Denton, Flower Mound, Frisco, Garland, Irving, McKinney, North Richland Hills, Plano, Rogers State University, Texarkana College, The Colony, Tyler, Waco and Wichita Falls. Check your local listings for days and times.

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