Florida Ornithological Society

In 2021, the University of South Florida Libraries and the Florida Ornithological Society (FOS) announced a formal partnership in which the libraries became the repository of the society’s records. Since then, the libraries have digitized the society’s  fifty-year archive  of the society's activities and collaborated on the creation of the society’s landmark Florida Breeding Bird Atlas II. The USF Libraries Special Collections congratulates the membership of the Florida Ornithological Society on celebrating its first fifty years of birding and advocacy for bird conservation in Florida.

In this exhibit, we celebrate the organization of the FOS with a flight through their archival collection and a glimpse at the people who made it possible. We have made every effort to include as many FOS members and activities as possible with the sources available to us. While the FOS archives are extensive, they are not an exhaustive representation of all the work of the society, but a sample from the materials that were preserved. We hope this exhibit inspires birders to contribute and preserve their own papers where they can be searched and accessed, enabling researchers everywhere to broaden their research base and include more voices in their work.

The well-documented human fascination with birds spans millennia, and “birders” tend to form lifelong bonds with their subjects. For “lifers”, birding is an irreplaceable source of fascination, joy, and relaxation. Several lifers helped to lay the groundwork for the Florida Ornithological Society, and their papers are preserved in its archival collection.

Florida became an important focal point for early environmentalists when plume hunters slaughtered Florida's wading birds for fashionable hats. Concerned citizens and budding conservationists intervened through the Florida Audubon Society (FAS), today known as the Audubon Florida. Formed in 1900, the group began by preventing the poaching of birds, which was then a lucrative business. The first Christmas Bird Count commenced during the year of its founding, and a new era had begun in the Sunshine State. Until the founding of the FOS seventy years later, the FAS was the only statewide group devoted to protecting and celebrating birds.

Few people have had more of an impact on early birding in Florida than naturalists Allan Dudley Cruickshank (1907-1974) and Helen Gere Cruickshank (1902-1994). Allan was a professional naturalist and Helen was the public librarian in their hometown of Rye, New York when they met. In 1937, the Cruickshanks married, forming a powerful partnership that reveled in their shared love of nature and skills as award-winning photographers and authors.

From his first participation in a Christmas Bird Count in New York as a teenager, Allan began his lifelong commitment to birding. Although both were keen photographers, Helen took the lead in writing their many publications. The handwritten legacy of the Cruickshanks to document bird life includes dozens of notepads they used in the field.

“Every day is an exciting day to the famous pair,” a journalist noted of the Cruickshanks. When Allan wasn’t tied down by an assignment as an Audubon educator in Maine, their constant efforts were channeled into a busy and rewarding annual routine of travel. The year began with one or both of them working on requested photos and stories for the National Audubon Society and other clients. Late winter found them departing for their annual expeditions around the country to document bird life and migration over the spring and summer. The fall found Allan ramping up his lecture schedule and the year ended with the intense activities of the annual bird count in Florida, which he personally led for seventeen years.

Cruickshanks Wedding & 1937 Journals

The travel journals of the Cruickshanks document their constant epic birding expeditions around North America. It seems appropriate that the itinerary for 1937 began with their marriage and their ensuing trip to Florida also served as their honeymoon. The couple meticulously documented all the species they photographed, often highlighting “life birds” (birds seen for the first time in one’s life) in advance. They also recorded shopping lists, recipes, and menus for meals and cocktails.

Allan Cruickshank

When Allan passed away in 1974, American Birds eulogized, “it seems difficult to believe. Anyone would seem safe to predict that Allan would go on climbing trees and chasing across dunes well into the 21st century.”

Also known as “Mr. Christmas Bird Count,” “the Audubon with a camera” to many, Helen called him “a veritable Pied Piper with children in the field. I’ve watched him lead a wild, hilarious snake dance through the woods only to have rapt attention take over instantly when an important subject stopped the crowd.” He reportedly led more than 3,500 bird walks and snake dances over his lifetime, transmitting his love of nature to a generation of Florida residents and tourists. When showing films or giving lectures or tours, he enjoyed imitating the distinctive calls of many birds.

Helen Cruickshank

Helen Cruickshank enjoyed a remarkable career as an author and photographer. Known for being “soft-spoken and fiercely driven,” she made a massive impression on the naturalist scene. Aside from a longtime assignment as a photojournalist for the National Audubon Society, she also wrote for popular publications such as American Girl. Before her passing in 1994, she completed twelve books, including Flight Into Sunshine: Birding Experiences in Florida. She also helped create the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge around Cape Canaveral.

World War II Letters

With the outbreak of the Second World War, Allan served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, where he used his photography skills to capture, develop, and process photos for military communications and newspapers. He wrote letters to Helen nearly every day while he was away, stationed near London, England, and these are now kept safe with the FOS records. The letters not only give an insight into Allan and Helen’s lives but also the war itself, with Allan writing in one letter that he was working on some of the first photographs coming back from the front after the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

While in London, Allan wrote in his letters that he loved to spend his days off exploring the European landscape and observing new bird species that couldn’t be seen in his native New York. These World War II letters in the FOS records tell the personal story of Allan and Helen and their lives as they continued their passion for ornithology even through the difficult years of the war.

Another influential leader in the creation of the FOS was Lyle S. Hubbard (1900-1967). Born in Toledo, Ohio where his aunt, Dr. Bess Cunningham of the University of Toledo, first introduced him to the wonders of the natural world and taught him to identify birds. After moving to Ft. Pierce, Florida in 1947, Hubbard’s love for birds took full flight as he became deeply involved with conservation work and ornithology groups.

He served as president of the St. Lucie Audubon Society and was an active member of the Florida Audubon Society and National Audubon Society, as well as a member of the American Ornithologists Union and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Among his many roles in writing and editing for ornithology journals, Hubbard authored pieces for the Florida Audubon Society’s The Florida Naturalist in the “Field Notes and Observations” section.

While Hubbard passed away in 1967, five years before the founding of the FOS, his work provided a strong foundation and contributed significantly to Florida’s birding community. The FOS records contain his detailed field journals with many entries documenting when he saw “lifer” birds and Hubbard’s original Christmas Bird Count checklists.

The Christmas Bird Count, held annually by the National Audubon Society near late December, is the longest running citizen science project in the world. Birders around the world volunteer to count birds, record their observations, and share their data with National Audubon Society. Everyone’s bird data are compiled together and contribute to research and conservation efforts. Hubbard participated in several Christmas Bird Counts each year, where his vast knowledge of Florida birds proved invaluable. His checklists from these Christmas Bird Counts provide a unique look into the history of this annual bird census and how it has evolved over time.

Some of the oldest documents within the FOS collection are contributions by Donald J. Nicholson (1892-1964). Nicholson was a Florida naturalist and ornithologist, renowned for his extensive knowledge of Florida birds and their nesting locations, including rare and elusive species like the Dusky Seaside Sparrow and the Black Rail. The FOS records contain many photographs of Nicholson, including the one to the right showing his dedication to birding as he wades chest-deep across a river in pursuit of a Cape Sabal Seaside Sparrow, a now-endangered bird that is found only in South Florida.

Nicholson was also an avid oologist and studied, described, and collected a vast number of bird eggs over his lifetime. While Nicholson passed away before the formation of the FOS, he greatly impacted the ornithological community in Florida and mentored younger birders, including his brother Wray H. Nicholson, whose field notes are also included in the FOS collection.

A substantial portion of the FOS archives is comprised of notebooks and nest records from Samuel A. Grimes (1906-1996). Grimes lived most of his life in Jacksonville, Florida where he took part in the 1919 Duval County Audubon Christmas Bird Count at age 13, riding his bicycle to look for birds. His skill at finding birds and their nests continued to grow and developed into a lifelong passion for ornithology. He combined his two passions of photography and ornithology in his work as the co-founder of Respess-Grimes engraving company in Jacksonville.

Grimes' exceptional birding and photography skills can be seen in his 1958 publication An Album of Southern Birds, which has a special focus on nesting birds. Grimes was an all-around excellent ornithologist, and the FOS archives contain all of his nest records, some dating back to the 1930s, which speak to his keen ability to locate nests. Multiple nest records are for now-extinct birds, like the dusky seaside sparrow, or endangered birds, such as the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow. Grimes' observations provide rare insights into the nesting history of these species, allowing for historical data comparison.

The Northern Mockingbird was Samuel Grimes’ favorite bird. The field journals highlighted in this exhibit tell the story of his close observations and studies of the mockingbirds living around his neighborhood in Jacksonville. He kept detailed records of each bird, drawing maps of their territories and even naming several of them (e.g.. “Lefty" for one with a drooping left wing, “73” for a bird that arrived in 1973). Grimes’ enthusiasm for birds can be seen through his field journals as he writes exclamations when birds return or find mates (e.g., “Lefty is back!” "73 has a new mate!”).

Explore Grimes' Notebooks

Samuel Grimes was named the first Honorary Member of the FOS in 1979, but he was active in several other conservation and ornithology organizations as well, such as the American Ornithologists’ Union (now the American Ornithological Society) and the Tall Timbers Research Station in Tallahassee, Florida.

Besides his photographic work, Grimes also pioneered the audio recording of bird songs. Using a parabolic reflector and other recording equipment, he captured the songs of over five hundred mockingbirds all across North America, from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic and from the Florida Keys to Canada. His papers in the FOS records tell the story of this amazing undertaking, with some of Grimes’s notes indicating he had at least 45,000 feet of mockingbird tape recordings.

Grimes’ project culminated in the release of a vinyl record titled “The Vocally Versatile Mockingbird,” an auditory treasure in which he shared his love and knowledge of mockingbirds with the world.

It was evident when he joined the American Ornithologists’ Union at just age fifteen that Joseph Howell’s (1913-1998) enthusiasm for birds would heavily impact his life. His fascination with birds led him to obtain a PhD from Cornell University in 1940 and eventually become a professor in the Zoology and Entomology Department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Dr. Howell was known for his research on the American Robin and his interest in Bald Eagle nesting behavior in central Florida. Many of Dr. Howell’s field notes regarding Bald Eagle nesting are highlighted within the Florida Ornithological Society archival collection, including appeals to the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission (now the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) for assistance with aerial surveys of Bald Eagle nests. Several of his research manuscripts on Bald Eagles were published in the renowned ornithology journal, The Auk. 

While the Florida Audubon Society had a broad mission devoted to conservation, management, and the study of entire habitats, members interested solely in ornithology and birding pushed to form the Florida Ornithological Society, with all of the work of the aforementioned "lifers" championing the cause.

Founding of the Florida Ornithological Society

At a Howard Johnson motel in St. Petersburg, Florida during the weekend of May 12-14, 1972, representatives from the Florida Audubon Society met “at long last” to discuss the establishment of a Florida Ornithological Society “to enable serious birders to enjoy their fun while assisting professional ornithologists in gathering information essential to the preservation of the many species of birds that help make Florida so interesting a place in which to live.” The FOS inaugural meeting was held on Oct. 14, 1972 in Lakeland. At the meeting, the society unanimously elected the following committee: William Robertson (President), John Edscorn (Vice-President), Curtis Kingsbury (Secretary), and Dot Freeman (Treasurer). Minutes from both meetings are displayed here and highlight some of the key participants involved.

May 12, 1972 Minutes Approval to establish the FOS

Oct. 14, 1972 Minutes Inaugural meeting of the FOS

Florida Scrub-Jays

Since the founding of FOS, its members have contributed to the knowledge base for a multitude of species. However, special attention is given to one of Florida's most unique bird species: The Florida Scrub-Jay. Aptly named after the scrub habitats they live in, Florida Scrub-Jays are found only in Florida. The scrub habitats they depend on are characterized by low-nutrient sandy soil with a plant community of shrubs and oak trees along the Lake Wales Ridge, which was an isolated, sandy island before the last ice age. Because Florida Scrub-Jays live only in these specific habitats, they are extremely vulnerable to habitat loss from agriculture or construction development.

FOS members have contributed to the conservation of the species by participating in a citizen science project where they searched for Florida Scrub-Jays and documented their distribution. Contributions by FOS members are included within the 1987 FOS Special Publication: Status and Distribution of the Florida Scrub Jay by Jeffrey A. Cox.

Dr. Glen E. Woolfenden

One leading conservation advocate for the Florida Scrub-Jay was Dr. Glen E. Woolfenden. Woolfenden was a renowned ornithologist who served FOS in many capacities, including as president from 1991-1992, as a member of the board of directors and as editor-in-chief of FOS’s Special Publications.

In addition to his work for FOS, Woolfenden held a professorship at USF for almost forty years. During his time at USF, Dr. Woolfenden conducted research at the Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid, Florida. It was here that Woolfenden and his colleague, Dr. John Fitzpatrick, conducted one of the longest continual research studies of Florida Scrub-Jays and summarized their findings in The Florida Scrub Jay: Demography of a Cooperative-breeding Bird.

Among other observations, the book describes a unique cooperative breeding behavior seen in Florida Scrub-Jays for the first time. The behavior involves juvenile jays remaining in extended family groups in their home territory to assist their parents with raising subsequent offspring.

Dr. Woolfenden was highly respected by his colleagues for his many contributions to the field of ornithology and to FOS. The photograph below shows some of the camaraderie that he shared with fellow members of FOS.

Herb Kale

Even though Herbert "Herb" W. Kale, II is featured within the third decade of FOS, his contributions to FOS and the ornithology field as a whole branched many decades beyond. Like many birders, Herb Kale’s interest in birds can be traced back to his childhood. His graduate research on the marsh wren led to his deep interest in Georgia's salt marshes.

Kale's experiences in Florida helped broaden his outlook on conservation, leading to thirty years of research and advocacy around the state. He worked for Audubon as an ornithologist, eventually assuming the position of vice president of ornithology in the state. Kale's detailed bird notes and his co-authored book with David Maehr, Florida's Birds, is housed within USF's Special Collections.

Grants & Awards

As evidenced by the number of FOS leaders already mentioned within this exhibit, it takes standing on the shoulders of giants to establish an effective and influential conservation society. In deference to its founders, the FOS did not let the momentum go to waste. The FOS expanded its membership and mission to support research and education about birds by uniting both amateur and professional birders.

Supporting amateurs and students in their ornithological journey is one of the cornerstones of the FOS. Consequently, the FOS offers three awards annually. Two of the awards are in honor of Allan and Helen Cruickshank. The Cruickshank Research Award is given to students and post-doctoral scientists whose research focuses on improving knowledge of Florida's birds. The Cruickshank Education Award recognizes primary and secondary teachers in Florida who seek to enhance their classes by integrating an ornithological aspect. Both awards have a history of funding back to 1998.

The William B. and Mary J. Robertson Fellowship Award was established in 2002. Bill Robertson was the founding president of the FOS, and Bill’s wife, Mary (Betty) Robertson, was also a life-long bird advocate. Their joint fellowship supports research on the wildlife, habitat, and ecosystems of Florida and the Caribbean. All three awards are still offered today.

A Birder's Guide to Florida & Bill Pranty

Prioritizing financial support is just one way the FOS accomplishes its primary goal of advancing ornithology in Florida. A large part of achieving advancement in a field is building upon current literature, and one great example of this is Bill Pranty's birding guides. A lifelong ornithologist, Pranty is a FOS member and an active contributor to its publication, the Florida Field Naturalist. Some of Pranty’s best known publications are the 4th and 5th editions of A Birder’s Guide to Florida.

The 1st edition of the guide was published in 1981 by James A. Lane, who lovingly dedicated it to “all of those great people who did not quit just because they turned 65” and specifically thanked several FOS founding figures within the preface. The 2nd and 3rd editions had minor changes and were published with contributions from Harold R. Holt. The most recent guides were published by Pranty. You can find Pranty’s 5th edition guide (2005), as well as his co-authored, FOS special publication (The Robertson and Woolfenden Florida Bird Species: An Annotated List by Greenlaw, Pranty, and Bowman [2014]) listed on the FOS’ recommended reading webpage.

The Birders Behind the Birds & Bruce Anderson

One of the many benefits of archiving and digitizing the FOS archival records at USF Special Collections is our ability to better understand the people and relationships behind the birds. For example, one correspondence by Bill Pranty includes a photograph that he captured of Bruce Anderson next to the first recorded dickcissel nest in Florida and highlights their connection as colleagues. Anderson frequently collaborates with other ornithologists like Pranty, not only on fieldwork but also on co-author articles like “The 121st Christmas Bird Count in Florida." Anderson has authored numerous other publications, including The Birdlife of Florida (1994). which was co-authored by the late Henry M. Stevenson.

The Florida Field Naturalist & Henry Stevenson

Similar to many other birders in this exhibit, Dr. Henry M. Stevenson's impact spans back to the beginning of the FOS. At the inaugural meeting, Allan Cruickshank was designated as chairman of the Committee on Publications and Henry Stevenson was appointed the first editor of the official FOS publication: The Florida Field Naturalist (FFN). Serving alongside Stevenson were the following prominent editorial board members: Glen Woolfenden, Herb Kale, Allan Cruickshank, and Oscar “Bud” Owre.

Launched in the spring of 1973, the FFN was initially released as a semi-annual publication. The articles published in FFN focused on field studies, distribution records, and natural history observations from Florida, nearby states, the Bahamas, and the West Indies. In 1981, as the FOS neared its 10th anniversary and grew to approximately four hundred members, the FFN increased its production rate to quarterly. Over the years, the FFN has not only increased its frequency but also its complexity and content, expanding from roughly twenty pages an issue to upwards of sixty pages. Articles, reviews, and research that are too extensive to be formatted to fit in the FFN issues are released in a “Special Publication” series.

Stevenson remained the editor of the FFN from 1973-1976 and was actively involved with the publication up until his death in 1991, helping make it the publication that it is today. Stevenson was recognized as a senior authority on Florida birds and authored A Key to Florida Birds (1960) in addition to his work with Bruce Anderson. Although Stevenson died before the final print version of The Birdlife of Florida reached the shelves, it is credited as a permanent tribute to Henry’s dedication to the field of ornithology.

Florida Breeding Bird Atlas I & II

Another hallmark publication of the FOS is the Florida Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA). The first edition of the atlas (BBA I) was spearheaded by Dr. Herb Kale and was a collaborative effort involving Audubon of Florida, the Florida Ornithological Society, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The objective of BBA I was to document the breeding distributions of all bird species within the state between 1986 and 1991. The entire state of Florida was separated into grids and systematically surveyed by 1,880 participants using observation and field cards. Breeding behavior was categorized into three main groups: possible, probable, and confirmed. Classification into these three groups was determined by what specific behaviors or observations were recorded (e.g., courtship behavior, copulation, nest building activities, nest with fledglings). In total, 196 species were confirmed breeding, with another nineteen species falling into the possible or probable breeding categories.

The breeding distribution maps, like the selections shown below, provide valuable insight into how bird populations have changed over time. For example, the BBA I showed a southward range extension in Florida for the Brown-Headed Cowbird. Because Cowbirds are brood parasites that lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species, the extension of their range southward could have severe negative affects on other bird species.

Similar to BBA I, the second edition (BBA II) documents breeding bird distributions throughout the entire state of Florida by using a grid-based system and classifying breeding behaviors. Building off of the results from BBA I that spanned 1986-1991, the second edition covers 2011-2016, allowing for direct comparisons regarding how breeding distributions have changed over time. The University of South Florida’s Special Collections unit is assisting with the compilation of BBA II and will host the digital version under their Florida Environment and Natural History portal.

In conclusion, the University of South Florida Libraries and all of us in Special Collections are delighted to join the Florida Ornithological Society in its next decades of birding. We look forward to collaborating on events and programming, but most of all, we are excited about the opportunity to work with passionate birders to preserve their records that would allow researchers to tell a contextual story. While some of the notable members from the society's past have been profiled in this exhibit, the membership includes birders and professional ornithologists, academics and citizen-scientists, in an organization where anyone who is interested in birds is encouraged to participate in the meetings and field excursions. The records of most of these members and researchers are largely absent from the FOS records. With the help of the society, we look forward to collecting materials that comprehensively reflect its membership and their activities over the years.