Ornithology - Rise in Popularity of Ornithology

Ornithology's Rise in Popularity
In the 1820s and 1930s, the development and use of field glass, or binoculars, and telescopes gave rise to the popularity of the study of birds. Not until 50 years later, in the 1880s, that the use of these tools was deemed essential to ornithology.

The use of bird feeders and field guides were additional innovations. Early field guides were very unwieldy, though, and focused primarily on identifying dead specimens. Florence Merriam is credited with creating the first generation of field guides meant to be actually be used in the field! Merriam's series, entitled 'Hints to Audubon Workers: Fifty Birds and How to Know Them, was published in 1887 in Audubon Magazine. This guide was followed up by new and more inclusive guides, with the best known of these being compiled by Roger Tory Peterson.


Ornithological Organizations and Publications
As the study of birds became more popular, organizations to bring ornithologists together were formed. The most notable groups formed were the British Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in 1889 and the US Audubon Society, which was started in 1885. The RSPB was started by a group of women in Croydon who called themselves the "Fur, Fin and Feather Folk." Interested primarily in the conservations of birds, the FFFF pledged "to refrain from wearing the feathers of any birds not killed for the purpose of food, the Ostrich only exempted."

Another British organization, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) was started in 1933. Unlike the RSPB, the BTO's purpose was to advance ornithological research, and supported ornithological projects which resulted in atlases detailing the distribution of various bird species across Britain. Likewise, the Breeding Bird Surveys, conducted by the US Geological Society (USGS), resulted in the development of atlases containing information on breeding densities and changes in those densities over time in the United States.


The Two 'Types' of Ornithology
In the late 1800's and early 1900's, ornithology was separated into two different types - systematic, or scientific, and popular. Only the systematics studies was considered to be "true science." Systematic ornithology centered around the structure and classification of birds. Popular ornithology dealt with the habits, songs, nesting and other parts of the life histories of birds.

In Germany, the study of birds in their natural habitats was quite popular, and bird "ringing stations" began to be established there in 1903. In the 1920's, Erwin Stresseman changed the editorial policy of the German Journal fur Ornithologie to include papers on bird ecology, anatomy, physiology and behavior. The change by Stresseman led to both the unification of field (popular) and laboratory (systematic) studies, and a shift of ornithological research from museums to universities.

It was not until 1943, however, that papers on bird ecology and other popular studies were printed in the British ornithology journal, The Ibis.


Everyday Ornithologists
One of the most interesting facets of ornithology, is that ornithology remains one of the few scientific studies in the biological field where non-professions still regularly make important scientific contributions to the field.

For example, non-professional ornithologists routinely make significant contributions in the areas of the distribution of bird species and the changes of bird populations around the world.