Famous Birders, Authors, and Photographers
If you are a newer birder, you may not yet be familiar with all the names listed in our Favorite Birds Quiz section. Here is a brief biography of these people. We thank each and every one of them for participating in our Favorite Birds Quiz!
John J. Audubon—(1785-1851) The most famous wildlife artist of his (or any) time. Thanks to Don Borman, curator of the John J. Audubon Museum in Henderson, KY for creating this list.
Paul Baicich—Former editor of Birding magazine; former American Birding Association board member; author of A Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds.
Jim Berry—President of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, NY. Former director of the Cincinnati Nature Center.
David M. Bird—Professor of Wildlife Biology at McGill University in Quebec, Canada. Columnist for Bird Watcher's Digest magazine. Author of The Bird Almanac.
Rick Bowers—Photographer, with wife Nora. Major photographic contributor to Kenn Kaufman’s Focus Guide to Birds of North America. Former VENT (Victor Emanuel Nature Tours) tour guide.
Greg Butcher—Audubon’s Director of bird Conservation. Former coordinator for Partners in Flight. Former Executive Director of the American Birding Association. Former editor of Birder's World magazine.
Jim Carpenter—President and founder of Wild Birds Unlimited, largest franchise system of retail stores catering to the backyard birdfeeding hobbyist. Over 325 locations nationwide.
James Coe—Naturalist and artist. Author and illustrator of the newly revised Golden Guide: Eastern Birds.
J. David Diehl—Chief programmer and technical guru for Thayer Birding Software. Wrote the programming for Thayer’s Birds of North America CDs versions 1 to version 3.5.
Jon Dunn—Field Guide for Wings. Member American Birding Association board and head of checklist committee. Author of A Field Guide to Warblers of North America.
Victor Emanuel—Founder of VENT (Victor Emanuel Nature Tours), largest bird tour company. Initiated the first birding camp for young people. Founded record-breaking Freeport, TX CBC.
John W. Fitzpatrick—Past president of American Ornithologist's Union. Director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Board member of the National Audubon Society and The Nature Conservancy.
Tim Gallagher—Editor of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Living Bird magazine. Photographer. Author of Parts Unknown, Where the Birds Are, and Wild Bird Photography.
Kimball Garrett—Ornithology collections manager at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Co-author with Jon Dunn of A Field Guide to Warblers of North America.
Daphne Gemmill—Owner of Big Pockets, Inc., clothing for birders. Important Bird Areas coordinator for Maryland through the Audubon Naturalist Society. Past board member American Birding Association.
Frank Gill—Ornithologist. National Audubon Society Senior Vice-President and Director of Science. Winner of AOU’s William Brewster medal. Author of the highly acclaimed Ornithology.
Paul Green—Cheerful Brit served as Executive Director of the American Birding Association. Very active in creating opportunities for young birders to develop their skills.
Steve Howell—Ornithologist at Point Reyes Bird Observatory. Tour leader for Wings. Author, with wife Sophie Webb, of Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America and Bird-Finding Guide to Mexico.
Jerome Jackson—Ornithologist, author, professor FGCU. President, Association of Field Ornithologists. Woodpecker expert. Provided scientific pronunciation help for this CD-ROM.
Kevin T. Karlson—Photographer, lecturer, and staff writer for WildBird magazine. Chief photographic consultant on this CD-ROM. Founder and president of Jaeger Tours, Inc.
Geoff Keller—Bird song recordist. Author of many Cornell audio guides, including Birds Songs of Florida and Bird Songs of the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Sandy Komito—North American Bird Chaser. Sandy set the ABA record when he saw 721 species in 1987. His ABA life list now stands at 839 … and rising!
Kenn Kaufman—North America’s #1 birder. Lecturer, author, nice human being. Eats cat food. Wrote Focus Guide to Birds, Kingbird Highway, Advanced Birding, and Lives of N. American Birds.
Greg Lasley—Tour leader for VENT (Victor Emanuel Nature Tours). Photographer. American Birding Association board member. Past secretary of the Texas Bird Records Committee.
Guy McCaskie—“Dean” of California birding. Holder of most California birding records. Secretary of California Bird Records Committee. Founding member of the American Birding Association.
Arthur Morris—One of the top nature photographers in the world. Contributor to many birding magazines. Owner of Birds as Art. Author of Shorebirds: Beautiful Beachcombers.
Brian Patteson—Top expert on mid-Atlantic seabirds. President of Brian Patteson, Inc. Operates pelagic trips out of Virginia and North Carolina.
Wayne Petersen—Field Ornithologist for the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Tour leader. Author of Birds of Massachusetts. American Birding Association officer.
Roger Tory Peterson—(1908-1996) Creator of the modern Field Guide. Artist. America's preeminent naturalist of the twentieth century. Thanks to the RTPI for creating this list.
Fr. Tom Pincelli—Mr. Birdman of the Rio Grande Valley. Minister, conservationist, activist. American Birding Association board member.
George Plimpton—(1927-2003) Author (Paper Lion, The Bogey Man, etc.) film and TV actor, editor of The Paris Review, ardent amateur birder and occasional participant on exotic VENT tours.
Diane Porter—Owner of Ideaform. Created first Macintosh-based listing program for birders. Webmaster of Birdwatching.com. Author of How to Start Watching Birds (VHS).
Peter Pyle—Field Ornithologist working at Point Reyes Bird Observatory. Wrote Identification Guide to North American Birds for which he won the 2001 Ludlow Griscom award from the American Birding Association.
J. Van Remsen—Ornithologist and Curator of Birds, Museum of Natural History, Louisiana State University. Specialist in neotropical birds of the Andes and Amazon basin.
Robert S. Ridgely—Top ornithologist in the Americas. Conservationist. Discovered 7 new species. Author of Birds of South America Vol 1 & Vol 2. Guides for Panama and Ecuador.
Chandler Robbins—One of the granddaddy’s of contemporary ornithology and author of the original Golden Guide to Birds of North America. Winner of numerous medals and prizes.
Will Russell—Founder and managing director of Wings, Inc., one of the largest birding tour groups. Teacher. Expert on bird identification, distribution and ecology.
Scott Shalaway—Wildlife biologist, freelance writer, columnist, radio personality. Author of seven books, including Building a Backyard Bird Habitat.
Debi Shearwater—Top expert on Pacific seabirds. President of Shearwater Journeys. Operates California pelagic trips. Has shown 50,000 birders Monterey Bay, Cordell Banks.
David A. Sibley—Author and illustrator of the new Sibley Guide to Birds and Bird Life & Behavior. Universally recognized as the best field guide for North America. Reluctant media superstar.
Brian E. Small—Photographer, writer. Photo editor for ABA’s Birding magazine. Columnist for WildBird magazine. Son of Arnold Small, ornithologist and ABA founder.
Macklin Smith—The birder who has seen more species in North America than any other person! Believe it or not, Macklin’s life list for the ABA area is 873. (700 is a BIG DEAL).
Sally Spofford—(1914-2002) Her ranch in Portal, Arizona was a Mecca for birders looking for rare birds—especially hummingbirds. She had been feeding birds for years and graciously allowed visitors.
Rich Stallcup—A founding member of the Point Reyes Bird Observatory and “legendary leader of Northern California birders.” Author of Birding: Nature Company Guide.
Don & Lillian Stokes—America’s first couple of birding. Lecturers, authors of two dozen books for beginning and intermediate birders. Hosts of Stokes Birds at Home TV show.
Pete Thayer—Me. Author of this DVD. President of Thayer Birding Software. Webmaster for thayerbirding.com and wildbirds.com. Birder whose hobby got WAY out of hand! In a “previous life” he was president of an investment advisory firm in Cincinnati, Ohio and a Harvard MBA.
Andy Thompson—Publisher of Bird Watcher's Digest magazine, founded by parents Elsa and William Thompson in Marietta, Ohio. First popular birding magazine.
Bill Thompson, III—Editor of Bird Watcher's Digest magazine. Author of Bird Watching for Dummies. Very musical family. His wife Julie is a famous artist and radio personality.
Jay VanderGaast—Guide for Field Guides (one of the “Big 3” tour companies) specializing in the Neotropics. Formerly birding guide at Rancho Naturalista lodge, Costa Rica.
Bret Whitney—Guide for Field Guides. World expert on South American birds. A remarkable ear for songs led to his discovery of many new species in South America and Madagascar.
David Wolf—Senior Guide for VENT (Victor Emanuel Nature Tours). Expert on the birds of Kenya, North America and the Neotropics. His wife Mimi is also a VENT guide and artist.
Barry Zimmer—Guide for VENT (Victor Emanuel Nature Tours). Expert on birds of the southeast United States. Author of A Birder's Guide to the Rio Grande Valley and Birds of the Trans-Pecos.