Barbara Snow (ornithologist)

For the therapist, see Barbara Snow (therapist).

Barbara Snow
Barbara & David Snow. At the home of Dr William Beebe, Simla, Trinidad, c. 1959.
Born	1921 (1921)
Died	2007 (aged 85–86)
Occupations	Ornithologist, Geologist
Spouse	David Snow (ornithologist)

Barbara Kathleen Snow (nee Whitaker, b. 21 February 1921 in Evershot, Dorset, d. 2007), was an English ornithologist and geologist. Barbara and her husband David Snow formed a close team, becoming among the most influential British ornithologists of the 20th century.

Career

Snow served in the ATS (women's army) for 6 years, and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. ^[1]

Following the army, Snow studied horticulture and geology at the University of Reading. ^[1]

Warden of Lundy Island

Snow was Warden of Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel between 1954 and 1957. ^[1]

New York Zoological Society in Trinidad

Dr Wilbur Downs and wife "Babbie" with baby of Barbara & David Snow. Trinidad c. 1961

From 1957 to 1961 the Snow and her husband, David, worked for the New York Zoological Society at the society's Tropical Research Centre headed by the famous American naturalist, William Beebe. The centre was later expanded and is now known as the research centre in Trinidad.

David Snow began his studies^{[ when? ]} of the oilbirds (Steatornis caripensis), and their echolocation abilities which enabled them to navigate to their nests in complete darkness using high-pitched clicks audible to humans (unlike the echolocation sounds of many bats). Barbara joined David in 1957 and from then on they worked together as a close-knit partnership. They began detailed studies of three bird families, the hummingbirds, the cotingas and the manakins, all associated with plants. This work extended over many years in Central and South America and led to important discoveries on the co-adaption between the birds and plants, providing food for the birds while ensuring the fertilising of the plants' flowers and dispersal of their seeds - "an early breakthrough in the integration of behaviour and ecology."

The snows focussed for some time on the complex courtship dances of the white-bearded manakin (Manacus manacus) and the golden-headed manakin (Pipra erythrocephala). They hypothesised that because tropical fruit-eating birds have abundant food resources, they have leisure time which facilitated the unusual flourishing of communal mating displays, known as lek, by male manakins. David Snow described these in several classic papers, while also working with Barbara on other tropical birds.

British wildlife

The Snows continued to study birds upon their return to England - particularly of fruit-eating birds - resulting in the book Birds and Berries. David noted that "Barbara was deservedly the senior author as she had done a good deal more of the field work than I had [...] her remarkably acute observation, coupled with endless patience and, perhaps more importantly, delight in the birds around her, from Flightless Cormorants to hummingbirds, enabled her to discover much that could only be discovered by sitting and watching." ^[1]

Awards

In 1972, Barbara and David Snow were joint recipients of the American Ornithologists' Union's Brewster Medal. ^[2]

Personal life

In 1958, Snow married the British ornithologist David William Snow, in Trinidad. ^[1]

In 1963, the Snows moved to the Galápagos Islands, as David was invited to become director of the new Charles Darwin Research Station there. Barbara returned to England^{[ when? ]} to give birth to their second son, and in 1964 David also left the island.

Snow died in 2007. She was survived by David who died in 2009. They were survived by their two sons. ^{[1] [2]}

Works

• Snow, D.W. & Snow, B.K. (1966). "The breeding season of the Madeiran Storm-petrel (Oceanodromo castro) in the Galapagos." Ibis108(2):283-284.
• Snow, D.W. & Snow, B.K. (1967). "The breeding cycle of the Swallow-tailed Gull (Creagrus furcatus)." Ibis109(1):14-24
• Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1968). "Behavior of the Swallow-tailed Gull of the Galapagos." Condor70(3):
• Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1969). "Observations on the Lava Gull (Larus fuliginosus)." Ibis111(1):30-35
• Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1971). "The feeding ecology of tanagers and honeycreepers in Trinidad." The Auk88(2)
• Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1974). "Breeding of the Green-bellied Hummingbird." The Auk91(3)
• Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1979). "The Ochre-bellied Flycatcher and the Evolution of Lek Behavior." Condor81(3)
• Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1984). "Long-term defence of fruit by Mistle Thrushes Turdus viscivorus. Ibis126(1):39-49
• Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1985). "Display and related behavior of male Pin-tailed Manakins." Wilson Bulletin97(3):
• Snow, D.W. (1987). The Blackbird, Shire Natural History ISBN   0-85263-854-X
• Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1988). Birds and berries: a study of an ecological interaction. Poyser, London ISBN   0-85661-049-6

Footnotes

1. Snow, David (2008). "Barbara Snow" (PDF). Ibis. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
2. "David Snow: Unrivalled doyenne of British ornithology". The Times . 28 February 2009.{{cite news}}: |archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)

References

• Snow, David (2008a). "Obituary: Barbara Snow, 1921–2007" (PDF). Ibis . 150 (3): 662–663. doi: 10.1111/j.1474-919x.2008.00821.x . Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
• Frank D. Steinheimer: David Snow (1924–2009), Vogelwarte, Band 47, Heft 2, 2009, S. pp. 144–145.
• The Daily Telegraph obituary

Further reading

• Rudder, Joy (2009). The old house and the dream: The story of The Asa Wright Nature Centre. Prospect Press, Maraval, Port of Spain, Trinidad. ISBN   976-95082-1-7. Especially pp. 47–49.
• Snow, D, W. (2008). Birds in Our Life. William Sessions Limited. ISBN   978-1-85072-381-3 (pbk) An autobiography.
• "David Snow: unrivalled doyen of British ornithology." Sunday Times, February 28, 2009.