This list of ornithology awards is an index to articles about notable awards concerning ornithology, or the study of birds, including both awards for scientists and awards for amateur birdwatchers. The list gives the country of the organization sponsoring the award, but some awards are not limited to one country.
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is an organisation founded in 1932 for the study of birds in the British Isles. The Prince of Wales has been patron since October 2020.
The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds ("ornithology") and around the world, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry Baker Tristram and other scientists. Its quarterly journal, Ibis, has been published continuously since 1859.
The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its members are primarily professional ornithologists, although membership is open to anyone with an interest in birds. The society publishes the two scholarly journals, The Auk and The Condor as well as the AOS Checklist of North American Birds.
The American Birding Association (ABA) is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, dedicated to recreational birding in Canada and the United States. It has been called "the standard-bearer for serious birding in North America." Originally concentrated on finding, listing, and identifying rare birds, the ABA now seeks to serve all birders with a wide range of services and publications.
Percy Roycroft Lowe was an English surgeon and ornithologist.
Dominic Louis Serventy was a Perth -based Western Australian ornithologist. He was president of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU) 1947–1949. He assisted with the initial organisation of the British Museum's series of Harold Hall Australian ornithological collecting expeditions during the 1960s, also participating in the third (1965) expedition.
John Nelson Hobbs was a British-Australian career police officer and amateur ornithologist.
Pauline Neura Reilly OAM FRAOU was an Australian ornithologist and author of children's books.
Clive Dudley Thomas Minton, AM was a British and Australian metallurgist, administrator, management consultant and amateur ornithologist. His interest in birds began in childhood.
Wilson Roy Wheeler MBE FRAOU (1905–1988), commonly referred to as W. Roy Wheeler, was an Australian postman and professional ornithologist. He was an active bird bander and was convener of the Altona Survey Group, later part of the Victorian Ornithological Research Group. In 1965 he was awarded the Australian Natural History Medallion. He was a member of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU), President 1964–1965, and made a Fellow of the RAOU in 1971.
The W. Roy Wheeler Medallion for excellence in field ornithology was created on the occasion of the centenary of the founding of Bird Observation & Conservation Australia (BOCA) to commemorate Roy Wheeler MBE, FRAOU, (1905-1988), an amateur ornithologist with a long association with the Club, as well as with the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union. The purpose of the award is to honour worthy individuals who have been outstanding contributors, innovators and leaders in field ornithology in Australia and its territories. Medals may be awarded posthumously and the award does not distinguish between amateur and professional ornithologists. Ten people were recognised at the inaugural awards made on 12 August 2005. Medallion recipients were:
The Cooper Ornithological Society (COS), formerly the Cooper Ornithological Club, was an American ornithological society. It was founded in 1893 in California and operated until 2016. Its name commemorated James Graham Cooper, an early California biologist. It published the ornithological journal The Condor and the monograph series Studies in Avian Biology. It presented the annual Loye and Alden Miller Research Award, which is given for lifetime achievement in ornithological research and was a member of the Ornithological Council.
The Ludlow Griscom Award for Outstanding Contributions in Regional Ornithology is an award bestowed by the American Birding Association upon individuals who are determined to have "dramatically advanced the state of ornithological knowledge for a particular region," through long-term studies of status and distribution, the writing and/or publication of field guides to birds of a certain area, work as part of a breeding bird atlas project, through the publishing of academic papers on regional ornithology, or through their efforts in inspiring and teaching about the subject of birding.
The Dilys Breese Medal is a medal awarded by the British Trust for Ornithology to recognise communicators who help to deliver ornithological science to new audiences. It is named in memory of film maker Dilys Breese, who died in 2007, and was inaugurated in 2009, funded by a bequest from Breese. The medal features a design by Robert Gillmor, showing a robin in front of a TV screen.
Chandler Seymour Robbins was an American ornithologist. His contributions to the field include co-authorship of an influential field guide to birds, as well as organizing the North American Breeding Bird Survey.
The five Marsh Awards for Ornithology are among over 40 Marsh Awards issued in the United Kingdom by the Marsh Charitable Trust and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), in the field of ornithology.
Kenneth (Ken) Nigel Graham Simpson was an Australian ornithologist and ornithological writer best known as the coauthor, with artist Nicolas Day, of the Simpson & Day field guide to Australian birds.
Kathy Martin is a global authority on arctic and alpine grouse and ptarmigan, and on tree cavity-nesting vertebrates. She is a professor in the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia and a senior research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Sarah Wanless is an animal ecologist in the UK and is an expert on seabirds; she is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and is Honorary Professor at the Universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen.
Bird Names for Birds(BNFB) is a campaign to change the common names of American birds that were named after people. Officially launched in June 2020 with a public petition, the BNFB movement emerged after several years of social activism by multiple American ornithologists and birders, many of whom are not affiliated with BNFB but remain devoted to the cause. BNFB was formally launched with a public petition dated June 22, 2020, co-signed by 182 individuals, which urged the American Ornithological Society (AOS) to "acknowledge the issue of eponymous and honorific common names, to outline a plan to change harmful common names, and to prioritize the implementation of this plan."
