Robert Ridgway
Robert Ridgway ( born July 2, 1850 in Mount Carmel, Illinois, † March 25, 1929 in Olney, Illinois) was an American ornithologist.
Life and work
Ridgway was already a teenager a passionate bird watchers, collectors and Illustrator. Through an exchange of letters with Spencer Fullerton Baird, he was encouraged at the age of 14 years to ornithological studies.
In the spring of 1867 Ridgway accompanied geologist Clarence King on a research trip along the 40th parallel, which he described in his work report on Ornithology of the Fortieth Parallel, 1877. From 1867 to 1869 Ridgway undertook expeditions to California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, where he collected many bird skins for the National Museum of Natural History.
In 1875 he married Julia Evelyn Parker. The only son of the couple - Audubon Whelock Ridgway - died in 1901 of pneumonia. 1879 Ridgway was by Spencer Fullerton Baird, who had become Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, was appointed Curator of Birds at the National Museum of Natural History. After the death of Baird Ridgway 1888 Head of the Department in the year.
1883 belonged to Robert Ridgway next to Elliott Coues the founding members of the American Ornithologists ' Union. From 1898 to 1900 he was president of the organization.
1899 Ridgway took part along with John Muir and other researchers at headed by Edward Henry Harriman Alaska expedition along the coast of Alaska, where extensive research on the flora and fauna of Alaska were operated.
1917 Robert Ridgway was awarded the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from the National Academy of Sciences. In 1919 he was awarded for his magnum opus The birds of North and middle America: a descriptive catalog the William Brewster Medal from the American Ornithologists ' Union.
Ridgway wrote about 500 articles, catalogs and books, including History of North American Birds (in collaboration with Thomas Mayo Brewer and Spencer Fullerton Baird, 1875-1884; Landbirds, 3 volumes, Water Birds, 2 volumes), The Humming Birds (1892 ) and The Ornithology of Illiniois ( 1889-1895 ). In the illustrations, he was supported by his brother John often Livzey Ridgway ( 1859-1947 ). In 1886 he published his work A Nomenclature of Colors for Naturalists and Compendium of Useful Information for Ornithologists (Boston: Little, Brown & Co.), one of the first and most important color systems for identifying birds. In 1912 he published a major work on the colors nomenclature titled Color Standards and Color Nomenclature, which was financed with the money his colleague and friend José Castulo Zeledon Costa Rica. The determination book, in which 1115 tones are listed, was for ornithologists, florists and chemists alike as the standard work.
Robert Ridgway described 35 Vogeltaxa, including the Small prairie chicken ( Tympanuchus pallidicinctus ), the Florida Duck ( Anas fulvigula ), the Brown-headed Rosy Finch ( Leucosticte australis ), and the mangrove Screech Owl ( Megascops cooperi ). Species such as the Aztec Thrush ( Ridgwayia pinicola ), the Haiti - buzzard (Buteo ridgwayi ), the Schmalschnabelsichler ( Plegadis ridgwayi ), the Ridgwaykotinga ( Cotinga ridgwayi ) and the Brown -necked Eight Swallow ( Caprimulgus ridgwayi ) were named after him.