Charles Vaurie (7 July 1906 – 13 May 1975) was a French-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

ornithologist 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 ...

. He was born in Beaulieu sur Dordogne, France but moved to

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

as a youth. He studied at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and then qualified as a dentist at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1928. An interest in painting

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s developed, and after marrying his

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

wife,

Patricia Wilson Patricia Grace Wilson (17 December 1929 – 2010) was a British writer of 53 romance novels for the Mills & Boon publisher from 1986 to 2004. She placed her novels primarily in England, Spain or France. Wilson died in Yorkshire in 2010. Bibli ...

, in 1934, the two shared numerous field trips. Vaurie became associated with the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

and by 1946 he was a Research Associate. He went on to produce more than 150 ornithological publications. His most important work was a systematic review of

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

birds. By 1956, he was a full-time ornithologist at AMNH, and rose to Curator by 1967. At the time of his death he was a member of the Standing Committee on Ornithological Nomenclature of the

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. He described for the first time the cryptic flycatcher (''Ficedula crypta''), Vilcabamba thistletail (''Schizoeaca vilcabambae''), and Vaurie's nightjar (''Caprimulgus centralasicus'').

Partial bibliography

* ''A Revision of the bird family Dicruridae.'' N.Y., 1949. * "Systematic notes on Palearctic birds". N.Y. 1956 (American Museum of Natural History, ''American Museum Novitates'') * ''A generic revision of Fly-catchers of the tribe Muscicapini.'' N.Y., 1953. * "Notes on some Ploceidae from Western Asia"; "Notes on some Asiatic Finches"; "Notes on the bird genus ''Oenanthe'' in Persia, Afghanistan, and India;" and several other articles all published in the ''American Museum Novitates''. N.Y., 1949–1952. * "A generic revision of Flycatchers of the tribe Muscicapini". N.Y., 1953. pp.27 figs & 7 tables. Wrapp. ''Bulletin American Museum of Natural History'' – Vol. 100: Art. 4. * ''The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference'' (2 Vols. )1959 * ''Classification of the Ovenbirds (Furnariidae).'' London, 1971. * ''Tibet and its birds.'' 1972

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaurie, Charles 1906 births 1975 deaths American ornithologists People from Trenton, New Jersey People associated with the American Museum of Natural History 20th-century American zoologists University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine alumni New York University alumni French emigrants to the United States