Pioneers of Ornithology

Joe Meche is a member of the board of directors of the North Cascades Audubon Society and has been the editor of the chapter newsletter for the past six years. Joe has been photographing birds and landscapes for over thirty years and has been watching birds for more than fifty years.

Human associations with birds are well documented and as old as human society itself. Birds have been inspirational to humans and a source of wonder throughout the ages. Human interest in birds has been as diverse as the number of species around the world. Birds have been domesticated since long before the time of Christ, and falconry has been popular for over 4,000 years.

Birds have been celebrated in myth and literature and have served as symbols in civilizations dating back to 3,000 BC. As early as the fifteenth century, bird illustrations became popular and continued to evolve over the centuries. Illustrations reached the height of popularity with the publication of John James Audubon’s four-volume, “The Birds of America.” Audubon’s work, more than any other, is considered to have given birth to the rise of interest in birds—an interest that continues to flourish to this day.

With this long-time appeal and increased interest in birds, it was only natural that some people decided to study them in more depth, thus giving rise to the science of ornithology. Field observation became the primary tool of ornithologists and, over the years, the knowledge of birds provided by both professional and amateur observers has exceeded that of most other classes of animals.

Last year, in the October/November “Beaks and Bills” column, we discussed the origins of bird names. As I pointed out in that column, birds have been named using a variety of methods. One of the methods utilized was to name a new species after the person who was the first to discover it, or in honor of someone who had done much to further the study and appreciation of birds. It’s not unusual for birders to just check a bird off their life lists and give little or no thought to the bird’s namesake.

The early to mid-1800s could be considered the golden age of ornithology in North America. The continent was filled with avian wonders that had yet to be catalogued and named. Lewis and Clark led an expedition of discovery that focused much of its energy on the flora and fauna west of the Mississippi. Lewis and Clark are the best known of the early explorers but there were many other naturalists who traveled about years later, cataloguing new species.

Everyone knows who John James Audubon was, but not many people are aware of some of his colleagues; e.g., Thomas Bewick, Charles Lucien Bonaparte and Alexander Wilson. As a means of introduction and further explanation to some of our bird names, I submit this short list to pay homage to some of these early pioneers in the science of ornithology. Some of their names appear in both the common and scientific names of birds.

Thomas Bewick (1754-1828) was an English artist and engraver and was the author of “A History of British Birds.” He was a close friend of Audubon and Audubon honored him by naming the Bewick’s wren after him. This wren is one of the more distinctive singers in the county.

Charles Lucien Bonaparte (1803-1857) was a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, and is considered to be the father of systematic ornithology in America. He spent five years in Philadelphia, studying American birds. He became a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences in that city and continued the work of Alexander Wilson. Our Bonaparte’s gull honors his contribution to North American ornithology.

John Cassin (1813-1869) was a curator of birds at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia for 26 years and was one of the leading systematists of the time. He possessed a broad knowledge of foreign birds since he prepared ornithological reports from many expeditions around the world. Several birds were named after him, including the Cassin’s finch and the Cassin’s auklet.

Edward Harris (1799-1863) accompanied Audubon on a trip up the Missouri River to the Yellowstone region in 1843 and was considered by Audubon to be “one of the best friends I have in the world.” The Harris’ hawk and Harris’ sparrow were named by Audubon in his honor.

Thomas Lincoln (1812-1883) was only twenty-one years old when he accompanied Audubon on a trip to the coast of Labrador in the summer of 1833. He discovered and collected a new species of sparrow which Audubon named after him.

William MacGillivray (1796-1852) was a native of Scotland and the author of five volumes on the history of British birds. MacGillivray was well schooled in the anatomy of birds and originated modern classification of birds based on anatomy. In 1830, Audubon hired him to revise and edit some of his work. Audubon and his family later toured Scotland with MacGillivray as their guide. Audubon named the MacGillivray’s warbler after him.

Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859) was born in England and came to America in 1808. He began his career as a botanist but later devoted himself to ornithology and authored “A Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and Canada.” He was considered by his friend, Audubon, to be “a most zealous, learned and enterprising naturalist.” On a boat trip to California, the naturalist Nuttall unwittingly became part of Richard Henry Dana’s classic, “Two Years Before the Mast.”

William Swainson (1789-1855) was a widely-traveled and versatile naturalist who collected, illustrated, and wrote on a variety of subjects in the natural world. He met Audubon in England and they traveled together to France. Swainson’s reviews of Audubon’s work were helpful in promoting his art in Europe. One of our favorite birds of spring and summer in Whatcom County, the Swainson’s thrush, was named after him, as was the Swainson’s hawk.

John Kirk Townsend (1809-1851) traveled extensively in the West and described some of the new birds that he found in “Narrative of a Journey Across the Rocky Mountains.” He sent specimens to Audubon, who was given “the liberty to name whatever new specimens might occur.” The Townsend’s warbler is named after him, along with one of our most intriguing birds, the Townsend’s solitaire.

William S. Vaux (1811-1882) was a friend of John K. Townsend and a vice-president of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. A spring and summer visitor to Whatcom County, the Vaux’s (pronounced vawks) swift, was named after him.

Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) immigrated to America in 1794 and is known as the “father of American ornithology.” He traveled extensively throughout the eastern United States collecting birds and taking meticulous notes about their ranges, preferred habitats and behavior. His observations were chronicled in the nine-volume “American Ornithology,” two volumes of which were published after his death. Another local favorite, the Wilson’s warbler, bears his name.

The early to mid-nineteenth century was truly a splendid time to be a naturalist, with so many new species of plants and animals to discover and observe. Close your eyes; sit back; and try to imagine millions of bison thundering across the prairies and millions upon millions of passenger pigeons filling the sky and literally blocking out the sun for days at a time. This might give you a small idea of what is must have been like to go on a birding field trip in the early to mid-1800s.

Before the time of Alexander Skutch, Ludlow Griscom and certainly Roger Tory Peterson, John James Audubon and his contemporaries devoted their lives to the study of birds and, considering the modes of travel at the time, deserve nothing but the utmost praise for their efforts in laying the groundwork for future generations of ornithologists—both professional and amateur. §