Dear Friends of Chère Amie,
Since the petition began, I've had a long correspondence with staff at the Smithsonian. After much digging, the Smithsonian was unable to find any records related to Chère Amie's taxidermy, and the taxidermist (Nelson Wood) died not too long after C.A. (For an almost-but-too-soon pic, see: http://www.shorpy.com/node/5991
There was one surprising find. The U.S. Army historian unearthed a long-lost 1919 memo that accompanied C.A. from France to the U.S. after her service. In it, she's identified as a hen. It raises some questions: - What made the Army change her identification from male to female? And how did it then revert back to male? Were the results of the taxidermy ever recorded or communicated? And was she even originally registered as a male? (the original registration is lost in England though 2 founding Friends of C.A. are on the hunt!)
As we approach the 100th anniversary of C.A.'s flight this October 4, the Smithsonian has said, "they are in discussions over possible testing options to determine the least invasive and non-destructive method to extract DNA from Cher Ami’s mounted remains. Should it be feasible to have Cher Ami DNA sexed the results will be analyzed and the results publicly announced in an appropriate fashion. Stay tuned!"
I proposed a pigeon gender reveal party (got no reply on that one).
I'll keep you posted!