Henry Boardman Conover (January 18, 1892 – May 5, 1950) was an American soldier, salesman, and amateur

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 ...

. Conover was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, the son of Charles Hopkins Conover and his wife Delia Louise Boardman. He attended

The Hill School The Hill School is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admission Organization. The school is accredited by the Mi ...

and then studied at the

Sheffield Scientific School Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale University, Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Jos ...

in Yale. He had an interest in

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

from an early age, and collected bird specimens. In 1920, he traveled to Venezuela with

Wilfred Hudson Osgood Wilfred Hudson Osgood (December 8, 1875 – June 20, 1947) was an American zoologist. Biography Osgood was born in Rochester, New Hampshire, the oldest child of a family of watchmakers. The family moved to California in 1888 and he went to study ...

on a collecting trip for the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educationa ...

in Chicago. The trip inspired him to leave business and devote himself to ornithology, and they returned to South America in 1922, visiting Chile and Argentina. In 1926, Conover traveled to

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

. Conover became, successively, an associate in ornithology, a life member in 1924, a patron in 1926, a contributor in 1930, a research associate in birds 1936, a trustee and corporate member in 1940, and a benefactor of the Field Museum in 1950. Conover donated his collection of specimens, mostly

game birds Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products (primarily meat), for recreation (" sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, thou ...

, to the Field Museum. It comprised 18,000, specimens including 30

types Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

. He made a large number of contributions to

Carl Eduard Hellmayr Carl Eduard Hellmayr (29 January 1878 – 24 February 1944) was an Austrian ornithologist. Biography Hellmayr was born in Vienna and studied at the University of Vienna, although he did not complete his degree. After his studies he worked in Vie ...

's ''The Catalogue of Birds of the Americas''. Conover was a member of the advisory council of

Peabody Museum of Natural History The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University (also known as the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History or the Yale Peabody Museum) is one of the oldest, largest, and most prolific university natural history museums in the world. It ...

, a trustee of the

Chicago Zoological Society Brookfield Zoo Chicago, known until 2024 as simply Brookfield Zoo, and also known as the Chicago Zoological Park, is a zoo located in Brookfield, Illinois. Brookfield Zoo is owned by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and is managed by ...

, and a fellow of the

American Ornithologists Union 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 ...

. He died, unmarried, in Chicago, of cardiac failure, and was buried in

Graceland Cemetery Graceland Cemetery is a large historic garden cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Irving Park R ...

References

* 1892 births 1950 deaths American ornithologists People from Chicago Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni The Hill School alumni 20th-century American zoologists Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago) {{US-ornithologist-stub