David Allen Sibley | |
---|---|
Born | October 22, 1961 61) Plattsburgh, New York | (age
Occupation |
|
Nationality | American |
Subject | Birds |
Notable works | The Sibley Guide to Birds |
Website | |
www |
David Allen Sibley (born October 22, 1961, in Plattsburgh, New York) is an American ornithologist. He is the author and illustrator of The Sibley Guide to Birds , which rivals Roger Tory Peterson's as the most comprehensive guides for North American ornithological field identification.
The son of Yale University ornithologist Fred Sibley, David Sibley began birding in childhood. [1] Sibley got his start as a birdwatcher in Cape May Point, New Jersey in 1980, after dropping out of college. [2] A largely self-taught bird illustrator, he was inspired to pursue creating his own illustrated field guide after leading tours in the 1980s and 1990s and finding that existing field guides did not generally illustrate or describe alternate or juvenile plumages of birds. He cites European wildlife artist Lars Jonsson as a great influence on his own work. [3] In 2002, he received the Roger Tory Peterson Award from the American Birding Association for lifetime achievement in promoting the cause of birding. [4] In 2006, he was awarded the Linnaean Society of New York's Eisenmann Medal.
Sibley is married, with two sons, and currently lives in Concord, Massachusetts. [1] He is not known to be related to ornithologist Charles Sibley, although his father studied under and worked for Charles at Yale. Charles' genealogical research found that he and David could be no closer than fourth cousins.
The following is a list of publications which Sibley has written or illustrated:
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by listening for bird sounds, or by watching public webcams.
Charles Gald Sibley was an American ornithologist and molecular biologist. He had an immense influence on the scientific classification of birds, and the work that Sibley initiated has substantially altered our understanding of the evolutionary history of modern birds.
Roger Tory Peterson was an American naturalist, ornithologist, illustrator and educator, and one of the founding inspirations for the 20th-century environmental movement.
Brewer's blackbird is a medium-sized New World blackbird. It is named after the ornithologist Thomas Mayo Brewer.
A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife or other objects of natural occurrence. It is generally designed to be brought into the "field" or local area where such objects exist to help distinguish between similar objects. Field guides are often designed to help users distinguish animals and plants that may be similar in appearance but are not necessarily closely related.
James Maxwell McConnell Fisher was a British author, editor, broadcaster, naturalist and ornithologist. He was also a leading authority on Gilbert White and made over 1,000 radio and television broadcasts on natural history subjects.
The elf owl is a small grayish-brown owl about the size of a sparrow found in the Southwestern United States, central Mexico, and the Baja California peninsula. It has pale yellow eyes highlighted by thin white "eyebrows" and a gray bill with a horn-colored tip. The elf owl frequently inhabits woodpecker holes in saguaro cacti; it also nests in natural tree cavities. It is nocturnal and feeds primarily on insects.
Robert Allen Fitzwilliam Gillmor MBE was a British ornithologist, artist, illustrator, author, and editor. He was a co-founder of the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) and was its secretary, chairman and president. He contributed to over 100 books, and received numerous awards.
The lesser goldfinch is a very small songbird of the Americas. Together with its relatives the American goldfinch and Lawrence's goldfinch, it forms the New World goldfinch clade in the genus Spinus.
Kenn Kaufman is an American author, artist, naturalist, and conservationist, known for his work on several popular field guides of birds and butterflies in North America.
Pete Dunne is an American author, famous for his writings on natural history and birding. He is also the founder of the World Series of Birding, as well as the former director of the Cape May Bird Observatory, Birding Ambassador for the New Jersey Audubon Society, and former publisher of New Jersey Audubon magazine. His articles have appeared in most major American birding publications, including Birder's World, Birding, Bird Watcher's Digest, and WildBird, as well as in The New York Times. In 2001, he received the Roger Tory Peterson Award from the American Birding Association for lifetime achievement in promoting the cause of birding.
The Peterson Field Guides (PFG) are a popular and influential series of American field guides intended to assist the layman in identification of birds, plants, insects and other natural phenomena. The series was created and edited by renowned ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson (1908–1996). His inaugural volume was the classic 1934 book A Field Guide to the Birds, published by the Houghton Mifflin Company.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to birds:
The ABA Roger Tory Peterson Award for Promoting the Cause of Birding is an award given by the American Birding Association to an individual who, over the course of a lifetime, has advanced the cause of birding.
Martha Conger Neblett Hagar, known as Connie Hagar, was an American birdwatcher and naturalist whose observations were valued by professional ornithologists, particularly her early observations of hummingbirds on the Texas coast.
The Bronx County Bird Club (BCBC) was a small informal club of birders based in the Bronx, New York, active between 1924 and 1956, with residual activity through 1978. The club was a major participant in the Audubon Society's Christmas census, observing more species in the eastern US than any other team for three consecutive years. Club members Roger Tory Peterson, Joseph Hickey, Allan Cruickshank, and William Vogt became well-known ornithologists and authors.
Marc Parnell is an ornithologist, author, and wildlife photographer. He is best known for The Birding Pro's Field Guides, a series of photographic identification guides to the birds of North America, and is the second-most published ornithologist in the world, based on books in active print.