William Henry Phelps

William Henry Phelps (WH Phelps, born June 14, 1875 in New York City; † December 8, 1965 in Caracas, Venezuela) was an American ornithologist and businessman. Later he joined the Venezuelan citizenship.

Origin and school

Phelps was born in 1875 as the son of the lawyer Dudley F. Phelps and his wife Louise Lander Prince Phelps. He devoted most of his life his business, without losing sight of his passion, the ornithology of the eyes. The interest in birds was present even in early childhood. While studying at the Milton Academy and Harvard Phelps also had sporting success. He was a member of the rowing team, but changed due to time constraints for the high jump. He also became involved socially underprivileged boys in Phillips Brooks House. After graduation, he began his career in Venezuela, by prepared coffee in San Antonio de Maturin in the east of the country for the market. In San Antonio, he met his first wife, Alice Elvira Tucker know. He married her and soon the first two children John Prince William Henry Phelps and Phelps, Jr. were born in the same place. Later, a daughter named Luisa, and another son Alberto completed the family. In 1903, he moved his headquarters to Caracas. Here he diversified his business and was representative and importer of works of art. In addition, he wrote as a Venezuelan correspondent of the New York Herald and later for The Associated Press. Later he expanded his business and was the first businessman american cars into the country, which also led to the development of infrastructure in Venezuela. It was followed by other business areas such as refrigerators, stoves and other electronic devices. His social conscience was also evident in the fact that he introduced Saturday afternoon as non-working time. 1938 Phelps retired and devoted all his time to ornithology. In 1947 he participated in the Venezuelan citizenship and donated his library to the town of San Antonio de Maturin.

Phelps as a scientist

He attended Milton Academy in Milton (Massachusetts ). There he completed his studies in 1872 successfully. He then studied at Harvard College, where he graduated cum laude in 1897. Between his time as a junior (third year ) and senior (fourth year ), he interrupted his Undergraduate studies in order to break in Venezuela to an ornithological expedition. The results, which included new species for science, he presented to the American Museum of Natural History before. In addition, from this trip followed its first publication in The Auk, the. Titled Birds Observed on a collecting trip to Bermúdez, Venezuela By William Henry Phelps. With critical notes and descriptions of two new species, by Frank M. Chapman appeared. After he had reached the degree of Bachelor of Science Phelps returned back immediately to Venezuela.

Due to his business activities ornithology was a bit more in the background. When at last his sons grew up and gradually took over after the shops, Phelps more time for his passion had again ornithology. He founded the Phelps Foundation and sponsored many expeditions in Venezuela, he also accompanied himself. Among the many objectives included Paraguaná Peninsula, the plains and deep forest plains of the Orinoco to the mouth of the Rio Negro, the Paria peninsula almost to Trinidad, the Sierra de Perijá to the border of Colombia, the foothills of the Andes in southwestern near Mérida, as well as the huge massifs of the remote tepuis Guaiquinima, Roraima and Auyán. In the expedition to Auyán - Tepui, which was also supported by the American Museum of Natural History ( AMNH ), his son William Henry Phelps Jr. accompanied him, the organization of the expedition was a logistical masterpiece. Phelps organized more than a hundred expeditions. Even scientists from other disciplines as ornithology were always welcomed him. So it was with the geologist Charles Henry Hitchcock and the botanist Bassett Maguire (1904-1991) on the go. Mostly, however, he worked with his son and his wife Phoebe Kathleen Deery de Phelps. Kathleen he also dedicated himself along with John Todd Room scientific taxon a subspecies of Brustbandkotinga ( Pipreola whitelyi kathleenae ). In its first description they write: We have named this new form in honor of Kathleen Deery Phelps, collector of the type specimen, in recognition of her services to the Phelps Collection. ( German: We call the new subspecies in honor of Kathleen Deery Phelps, who has collected two bellows of this kind, as we hereby acknowledge their services to the Phelps Collection. ) After his retirement, he took care of his 1300 collected Skins and its library. He has published more than 70 articles and two book volumes under the name Lista de Aves de Venezuela con su Distribu Geográfica ( Passeriformes and non- Passeriformes ). Many of his publications he worked with professionals such as Boardman Conover (1892-1950), Ernest Thomas Gilliard, Alexander Wetmore, John Todd rooms, Armando Dugand (1906-1971), George Miksch Sutton (1898-1982) and Ernst Schäfer together.

First descriptions

Phelps has numerous species and subspecies described scientifically.

The following new species have been Phelps, sometimes described together with his son and John Todd rooms:

  • Black spots dwarf woodpecker, Picumnus nigropunctatus rooms & Phelps, 1950
  • Cardona Warbler Myioborus cardonai (Room and Phelps, 1945)
  • Tepuitinamu, Crypturellus ptaritepui (Room and Phelps, 1945)
  • Wetmoreralle, Rallus wetmorei (Room and Phelps, 1944)
  • Gold eyes Warbler Myioborus pariae ( Phelps & Phelps, 1949)
  • White-cheeked Warbler, Myioborus albifacies ( Phelps & Phelps, 1946)

Honors

During his studies he became a member of the Nuttall Ornithological Club. In the club he met such luminaries as William Brewster, Charles Foster Batchelder, Edward Howe Forbush and Charles Johnson Maynard know. In 1895 the accession followed the American Ornithologists ' Union ( AOU ). On all four -yearly meeting of the AOU He learned other sizes of ornithology as Samuel Elliott Coues, Clinton Hart Merriam, Daniel Giraud Elliot, William Dutcher, Edward William Nelson, Charles Bendire, Frederic Augustus Lucas, Joel Asaph Allen, Frank Michler Chapman, Ruthven Deane and Robert Ridgway know. Phelps was honored for his achievements in Auyán - Tepui expedition from the AMNH as a benefactor of the institution. At the Cerro de la Neblina, there is a peak, which is known by many Venezuelans only under the name of Pico Phelps. It is the highest peak outside the Venezuelan Andes. In 1939, President Eleazar López Contreras honored him with the medal for public teaching. In 1949 he is honorary doctorate from the Universidad Central de Venezuela. In 1952, Phelps was a Fellow of the A.O.U. 1953 Senate seat in the Academia de Ciencias físicas, Matemáticas y Naturales de Venezuela have been assigned. As Phelps died his son took over this seat in 1954, he received the Isidore Geoffroy -Saint -Hilaire - Medal of the French Society for Nature Conservation Société nationale de protection de la nature (then Société d' Acclimatation ). 1955 President Marcos Pérez Jiménez distinguishes him from the Order del Libertador. In the same year he also gets the William Brewster Medal of the AOU awarded.

Edwin Wesley Lanyon dedicated the name of the genus Phelpsia the whole family Phelps. In his first description he writes: It is Appropriate thatthis unique Venezuelan endemic be named for the Phelps family ( the late William H., the father, Billy, the son, and Billy 's wife, Kathy ) in recognition of Their monumental contribution to our understanding of the ornithology of Venezuela, a tribute long overdue. Even the German trivial name of Phelpssegler or sometimes in English Phelp 's Swift ( Streptoprocne phelpsi ) ( Collins, 1972) called, was named at the request of William Henry Phelps Jr. of Charles Thompson Collins to his father. Chapman described in 1939 a subspecies of Flammenkopfkotinga ( Oxyruncus phelpsi cristatus ). In his article, he wrote: I have named this unusually interesting new form in honor of William H. Phelps Who Has so long been a student of Venezuelan birds, and who collected seven of the Auyán - tepui series. ( German: I have named in honor of William H. Phelps this unusually interesting new subspecies, studying the birds of Venezuela for a long time and the seven bellows this Auyán - tepui has collected subspecies. )

Writings

  • Frank M. Chapman: Birds Observed on a collecting trip to Bermúdez, Venezuela. By W. H. Phelps. With critical notes and descriptions of two new species, by FM Chapman. In: The Auk. 14, 1897, pp. 357-371.
  • La procedencia geográfica de las aves en el Cerro Roraima coleccionadas, Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, 5 ( 36 ), pp. 57-82, 1939
  • The geographical status of the birdscollected at Mount Roraima, Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, 5 ( 36 ), pp. 83-95, 1939
  • Ernest Thomas Gilliard: Six new birds from the Perijá Mountains of Venezuela. Issue 1100 of American Museum Novitates. 1940.
  • With Ventura Barnés: Las aves de la Península de Paraguaná con anotaciones sistemáticas, Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, 6 ( 46 ), pp. 269-301, 1940
  • Alberto Fernández Yépez and Fulvio L. Benedetti: Las aves de Margarita con anotaciones sistemáticas, Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, 6 ( 43): 91-132, 1940
  • Discurso del Señor Willian H. Phelps ( en el acto inaugural del nuevo edificio de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales ), Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, 6 ( 42 ), pp. 44-51, 1940.
  • Ernest Thomas Gilliard: Seventeen new birds from Venezuela. Issue 1153 of American Museum Novitates. , 1941.
  • With Alexander Wetmore: Description of a third form of curassow of the genus Pauxi, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 33 (5 ), pp. 142-146, 1943
  • Las aves de Perijá. Casa de Specialities, Caracas, 1944.
  • John Todd Room: New species and subspecies of birds from Venezuela. Issue 1270 of American Museum Novitates, Volume 1, 1944.
  • John Todd Room: New species and subspecies of birds from Venezuela. Issue 1274 of American Museum Novitates, Volume 2, 1944.
  • A new form of Myioborus from northern South America, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 57, pp. 11-13, 1944.
  • Bubulcus ibis in Venezuela, The Auk, 61 (4 ), pp. 656, 1944
  • Las aves de Perijá, Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, 8 ( 56 ), pp. 265-338, 1944.
  • Resumen de las colecciones ornitológicas hechas en Venezuela, Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, 9 (61 ), pp. 325-444, 1944.
  • Resumen de las colecciones ornitológicas en Venezuela. Casa de Specialities, Caracas, 1945.
  • New species and subspecies of birds from Venezuela, Issue 1274 of American Museum Novitates, Volume 2, 1945.
  • Contribución del Dr. Frank M. Chapman a la Ornitología venezolana. , Casa de Specialities, Caracas, 1946.
  • Descripción de nuevas de los cuatro aves cerros Paraque y y notas sobre ptri - Tepui Bubulcus ibis, Myioborus cardonal y Platy Cichla leuocops. Casa de Specialities, Caracas, 1946.
  • John Todd rooms: Twenty -three new subspecies of birds from Venezuela and Brazil. Issue 1312 of American Museum Novitates. , 1946.
  • With Henry Boardman Conover: La distribución geográfica de las subespecies de la Pava de Monte Penelope granti, Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, 10 ( 68 ), pp. 321-325, 1946.
  • With Armando Dugand: El status de las aves de geografico Maipures (Columbia ), Caldasia 4 (18 ), pp. 243-276, 1946..
  • Two new wood - hewers of the genus Dendroplex from Venezuela and Colombia, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 59, pp. 63-66, 1946.
  • John Todd rooms, Ernest Thomas Gilliard: Seven new subspecies of birds from Venezuela and Brazil, Issue 1338 of American Museum Novitates. In 1947.
  • Descripción de seis aves nuevas de Venezuela y notas sobre Veinticuatro adiciones a la avifauna del Brasil. Tipografía La Nación, Caracas 1948.
  • Notas sobre aves Venezolanas. Tipografía El compas, Caracas 1948.
  • With Armando Dugand: Aves de la ribera colombiana del río Negro ( frontera de Colombia y Venezuela). Editorial El Gráfico, 1948.
  • George Miksch Sutton: Richmond 's swift in Venezuela. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, 1948.
  • John Todd Rooms: Three new subspecies of birds from Venezuela, 1373 edition of American Museum Novitates. In 1948.
  • John Todd Rooms: Four new subspecies of birds from Venezuela, Issue 1395 of American Museum Novitates. . In 1949.
  • John Todd Rooms: A new name for Basileuterus culicivorus roraimae. Issue 1412 of American Museum Novitates. In 1949.
  • With William H. Phelps Jr.: Lista de las aves de Venezuela con su distribución, Parte 2 Passeriformes. In: Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales. , 1950.
  • John Todd Rooms: Three new Venezuelan birds. Issue 1455 of American Museum Novitates. , 1950.
  • Las aves de Bonaire. Tipografía La Nación, Caracas 1951.
  • Las aves de las islas Los Roques and Las Aves y descripción de un nuevo de canario mangle. Tipografía La Nación, Caracas 1951.
  • John Todd Room: New subspecies of birds from Surinam and Venezuela. Issue 1511 of American Museum Novitates. In 1951.
  • John Todd Room: New birds from Venezuela. 1544 edition of American Museum Novitates. In 1952.
  • John Todd rooms, Ernest Thomas Gilliard: A new race of the honey -creeper, Diglossa cyanea, from Venezuela. Issue 1603 of American Museum Novitates. In 1952.
  • With William H. Phelps Jr.: Nine new birds from the Perijá Mountains and eleven extensions of ranges to Venezuela, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, Vol 65, pp. 89-105, 1952
  • Discurso del Dr. William H. Phelps en el acto de incorporación, Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, 17 (50 ), 1953
  • El posible hundimiento parcial de isla de Aves. Litografía del Comercio, Caracas 1953.
  • John Todd Room, Albert Mocquerys: A new flycatcher from Venezuela: with remarks on the Mocquerys collection and the piculet, Picumnus squamulatus. Issue 1657 of American Museum Novitates. In 1954.
  • With Ernst Schäfer: Aves de Rancho Grande. Tipogr. la Nacion, 1954.
  • With Ernst Schäfer: Las aves del Parque Nacional " Henri Pittier " ( Rancho Grande) y sus funciones ecológicas, Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, 16 (83 ), pp. 3-167, 1954.
  • John Todd Room, George Kruck Cherrie, Stella M. Cherrie: Three new subspecies of birds from Venezuela. Issue 1709 of American Museum Novitates. In 1955.
  • Las aves de la isla de Patos, con algunos documentos sobre la historia y la isla de la geología. Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, Caracas 1958.
  • With William H. Phelps Jr.: Lista de las aves de Venezuela con su distribución, Tomo 2 Parte 1 No- Passeriformes. In: Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales. In 1958.
  • La aves de la isla La Orchila. Editorial Sucre, Caracas 1959.
  • With William H. Phelps Jr.: Two new subspecies of bird from the San Luis Mountain of Venezuela and distributional notes. In: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington de. 72, 1959, pp. 121-126.
William H. Phelps, Jr. Milton (Massachusetts) Auyán-tepui John Todd Zimmer Central University of Venezuela Masked Flowerpiercer Scaled Piculet Integrated Authority File
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