THE BIRDS OF ALEXANDER WILSON-WHY THE FATHER OF AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY?

摘要

Wilson's entire scientific and ornithological career is contained within the pages of American Ornithology. Yet its publication not only established American ornithology on the world stage, it gave the science a taxonomic framework in North America and a distinctive emphasis on natural history, on observing live birds going about their daily activities in the wild. That emphasis was new to science and distinctly American (Burtt and Davis 2013). To close this series on the life of Alexander Wilson, consider briefly his fundamental contributions to ornithology.