Screens on March 18 at 9 p.m at the Little Theatre and on March 20 at 6.30 p.m. at the BUEI<\p>Tradewinds Auditorium.It feels like so many positive things have already been said about Lucinda Spurlings’ “Rare Bird”, that reviewers might be accused of simply jumping on the band-wagon when they say how much they enjoyed it.But “Rare Bird” remains a beautifully crafted story of how even one man can turn the tide in what may seem an overwhelming flood of environmental destruction — it teaches that if humans cause destruction to the environment, it is also up to us to work hard to try and restore it.

“Rare Bird” tells the audience how the world’s known Cahow population increased from 14 birds to 142 through 54 years of back-breaking labour — overcoming global environmental problems such as over-development, invasive species, DDT, and global warning— by a team of devoted naturalists.

All the major players in the resurfacing of the long-thought extinct sea-bird are featured, however, none more prominently than local conservation expert Dr. David Wingate.

This film is as much about the life-work of Dr. Wingate as it is about the re-discovery of the Cahow.

There is even a touching moment when viewers are allowed inside the family of Dr. Wingate and the tragic death of his wife, who was buried on his home for so many years — Nonsuch Island — taking up the place he thought he’d get to first.

Moving into the current day, Government Conservation Officer Jeffrey Madieros explains the very perilous potential future for the mysterious birds about whom many strange facts are revealed.

For instance, did you know that Cahows memorise the position of the stars over Bermuda when they first leave the nest in order to remember their location?

Or that a Cahow-type bird struck St. David’s lighthouse and died long before the official re-discovery of the species?

Or that the seabirds only breed once a year when they lay one egg with has a 50 percent chance of hatching alive?

With those types of odds, the film captures an almost fairy-tale like quality during scenes when a 15-year-old Dr. Wingate plays detective, wandering about Walsingham caves and meeting world-renowned ornithologists, wondering how this “extinct” species could hide for so long on an Island the size of Bermuda.

In the end, Rare Bird takes global environmental problems and succeeds in framing them in a local perspective.

And the transition from the big-screen to the home-theatre version watched by this reviewer also carries over well, and indeed is an experience every Bermudian — as well as the rest of the world — should enjoy.