January Program 

Tuesday, January 20th - 7 PM

Brooks Memorial Library, Brattleboro 

3rd Floor Community Room 

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Some Early Pioneers of Bird Field Guides

David Spector

Several New England authors contributed to the late 19th and early 20th century development of the bird field guide well before Roger Tory Peterson published his first guide. In this talk David will briefly introduce the books and lives of Henry D. Minot, Florence Merriam, Chester Reed, and Ralph Hoffmann.

David Spector is an ornithologist retired from the biology department of Central Connecticut State University. His research and professional publication originally focused on the function, development, and evolution of bird song, especially the singing behaviors of wood-warblers. In recent years he has increasingly focused on birds in literature and the history of ornithology. He has given over a hundred public presentations in eight states and published many essays in newspapers and birdwatching magazines. He is coeditor of the Bird Finding Guide to Western Massachusetts and former board president of the Hitchcock Center for the Environment.