W. R. (Robert) Sullivan was the inventor of an early

hummingbird feeder A birdfeeder, bird table, or tray feeder is a device placed outdoors to supply bird food to birds (bird feeding). The success of a bird feeder in attracting birds depends upon its placement and the kinds of foods offered, as different species h ...

as well as an advocate for banding hummingbirds and hummingbirds living in

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

s. In 1932, Sullivan invented a hummingbird feeder designed to prevent other birds or insects from drinking from it, which he produced and sold locally around

Kerrville, Texas Kerrville is a city in Texas, and the county seat of Kerr County, Texas, United States. The population of Kerrville was 24,278 at the 2020 census. Kerrville is named after James Kerr, a major in the Texas Revolution, and friend of settler-fo ...

. He used both Heinz vinegar bottles and IV bottles for his feeders. No later than 1936, Sullivan had hung a hummingbird feeder outside his patient room at Veterans Administration Hospital at Legion, Texas, near Kerrville. In total, he had placed around 25 of these feeders around the hospital's grounds. In 1939, Sullivan noted that hummingbirds would drink of the sweetened water solution he put in his feeder every day. His feeder design was used by both fellow patients at the hospital as well as residents of Kerrville. In 1936, Sullivan applied for a bird-banding permit for

black-chinned hummingbird The black-chinned hummingbird (''Archilochus alexandri'') is a hummingbird occupying a broad range of habitats. Its summer range is in the western United States and southwestern Canada. It is migratory, wintering as far south as Mexico. In sunl ...

s, but was rejected by F. C. Lincoln of the Division of Wildlife Research with the rationale that hummingbirds were so small that it was impossible to create properly fitting bands for them. In July 1941, Sullivan attempted to

airmail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be th ...

hummingbirds from Texas to the New York Zoological Park in New York City, but the birds died in transit. In May 1942, Sullivan successfully shipped black-chinned hummingbirds from Legion to Forest Park Zoo in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, W. R. 20th-century American inventors People from Kerrville, Texas Hummingbirds Year of birth missing Year of death missing