Impoverished Arkansas Delta towns hope 'Lord God' bird will work an economic miracle

COTTON PLANT, Arkansas -- If the ivory-billed woodpecker was magic to early-day American Indians, perhaps it can work some magic for the modern-day residents trying to scratch out a living in this poor Delta region.

The striking bird -- not extinct after all -- has already attracted eager birdwatchers to the dying communities that dot the area. Rooms at a nearby Days Inn are filling up for fall -- prime season for birders.

Not so extinct woodpecker may provide tourist boom, continued