The Nuttall Ornithological Club is the oldest

ornithology Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

organization in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

The club initially was a small informal group of William Brewster's childhood friends, all of whom shared his interest in ornithology. These friends included

Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculpture, sculptor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His works include ''The Minute Man'', an 1874 statue in Concord, Massachusetts, and his Statue of Abr ...

, Ruthven Deane and

Henry Henshaw Henry Wetherbee Henshaw (March 3, 1850 – August 1, 1930) was an American ornithologist and ethnologist. He worked at the U.S. Bureau of Ethnology from 1888 to 1892 and was editor of the journal ''American Anthropologist''. Biography Early l ...

. In 1872, Henshaw suggested that the group meet on a regular weekly schedule at Brewster's house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On November 17, 1873, the group, which had expanded to include Henry Augustus Purdie, William Earl Dodge Scott, Francis P. Atkinson, Harry Balch Bailey, Ernest Ingersoll, and Walter Woodman, met to formally establish the first American ornithological club.Davis, William E. History of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, 1873–1986. Cambridge, 1987 They named their club after the

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

Thomas Nuttall Thomas Nuttall (5 January 1786 – 10 September 1859) was an English botanist and zoologist who lived and worked in America from 1808 until 1841. Nuttall was born in the village of Long Preston, near Settle in the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

who published the first

field guide A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna or funga) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the " field" or local area where suc ...

for North American birds, ''Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and of Canada'' (1832). By 1876 the club determined to publish the ''Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club'', which was the first purely ornithological journal, under the joint editorship of

Charles Johnson Maynard Charles Johnson Maynard (May 6, 1845 – October 15, 1929) was an American naturalist and ornithologist born in Newton, Massachusetts. He was a collector, a taxidermist, and an expert on the vocal organs of birds. In addition to birds, he also s ...

and Henry Augustus Purdie. However, after one issue, Maynard and Purdie were removed as editors and

Joel Asaph Allen Joel Asaph Allen (July 19, 1838 – August 29, 1921) was an American zoology, zoologist, mammalogy, mammalogist, and ornithology, ornithologist. He became the first president of the American Ornithologists' Union, the first curator of birds and ma ...

, who had recently joined the club, became the sole editor-in-chief.

Notable members

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

, 26th President of the United States, was a member of the club, one of only a few presidents who published papers in

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (:wiktionary:peer#Etymology 2, peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the ...

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...

Roger Tory Peterson Roger Tory Peterson (August 28, 1908 – July 28, 1996) was an American natural history, naturalist, Conservationist (biology), conservationist, citizen scientist ornithology, ornithologist, artist and illustrator, educator, and a founder of th ...

, author of the Peterson

Publications

* 1876–1883 – Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club (became

The Auk ''Ornithology'', formerly ''The Auk'' and ''The Auk: Ornithological Advances'', is a peer-reviewed scientific journal and the official publication of the American Ornithological Society (AOS). It was established in 1884 and is published quarterly ...

in 1883) * Quarterly bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club * Memoirs of the Nuttall Ornithological Club

References

External links

Official site
* {{Authority control Ornithological organizations in the United States Organizations established in 1873