42 Facts About Ludlow Griscom

Ludlow Griscom was an American ornithologist known as a pioneer in field ornithology.

The oldest of three children, Ludlow Griscom had a sister, Joyce, who died in childhood, and a brother, Acton.

Ludlow Griscom taught there and at the University of Virginia and continued to study toward a doctorate.

Ludlow Griscom was an enthusiastic opera- and concertgoer and accomplished pianist.

In 1916, Ludlow Griscom joined the staff of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, initially in the ichthyology department where he co-authored one paper on fishes with John Treadwell Nichols.

Ludlow Griscom transferred to the Department of Mammalogy and Ornithology the following year, where he worked for Frank Chapman, Curator of Birds.

Early on, Ludlow Griscom had looked to Chapman for career advice, but over time, relations between the two became strained.

That same year, Ludlow Griscom moved to Boston to become Research Curator of Zoology at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology, where he proved to be an effective and hard-working administrator in addition to his scientific contributions.

Ludlow Griscom worked closely with Thomas Barbour, the museum's director, with whom he had a warm relationship; after Barbour's death in 1946, Griscom reported to the new director, Alfred Romer.

Ludlow Griscom's duties included designing and distributing propaganda materials, such as leaflets delivered via hydrogen balloons, aimed at influencing German soldiers and civilians.

Ludlow Griscom maintained a high level of activity in several professional organizations.

Ludlow Griscom joined the American Ornithologists' Union in 1908 and was named a fellow in 1925.

Ludlow Griscom was elected to the Finance Committee in 1934 and later served on the council, a subcommittee for faunistics, and other committees.

Once in Boston, in 1927, Ludlow Griscom joined the Nuttall Ornithological Club, a limited-membership group of ornithologists that was in certain respects a predecessor of the AOU.

Ludlow Griscom was elected treasurer in 1930, was named a member of the council, and served a term as president from 1952.

Ludlow Griscom gave nearly 50 talks at the club's regularly scheduled meetings on his various field trips and on local bird distribution and migration.

Also in 1927, Ludlow Griscom became an associate member of the New England Museum of Natural History, which was sponsored by the Boston Society of Natural History.

Ludlow Griscom became chair of the Society's Budget Committee in 1937 and went on to assume more administrative and financial responsibilities.

Ludlow Griscom was a contributing editor to Audubon Magazine and an associate editor of Audubon Field Notes.

Ludlow Griscom joined the board of directors, then became its chairman in 1944, a position he held until 1956.

Closer to home, Ludlow Griscom was active with the Massachusetts Audubon Society, contributing articles, book reviews, and observational reports to its Bulletin.

Ludlow Griscom served as a Director of the organization for nine years.

Ludlow Griscom led an expedition to Panama in 1924; members of the party described fifteen new species of birds while he himself published descriptions of the yellow-green brushfinch and the Tacarcuna bush-tanager.

In 1925, Ludlow Griscom was part of a team led by Gregory Mason and Herbert Spinden that collected specimens for the AMNH in British Honduras, the Yucatan Peninsula, and Cozumel Island.

Ludlow Griscom named two new species as a result of the Guatemala trip, the flightless Atitlan grebe and the belted flycatcher.

Whether or not the story of the warbler is entirely true, Ludlow Griscom was indeed skilled at quickly identifying birds by sight, using diagnostic features first learned from his museum work, and he influenced other birders and ornithologists to use the same techniques.

Nor did Ludlow Griscom accept sight records uncritically, viewing himself as a moderate in this respect.

Ludlow Griscom is best remembered for his eager participation in and promotion of the rising practice of birding by eye and ear, of watching birds as a sport.

Ludlow Griscom kept personal life and year lists: his North America species total through 1939 was 640.

In preparing these works, Ludlow Griscom drew in part on his own records.

From 1907 until the end of his life, Ludlow Griscom transcribed his field notes made during trips in the United States and overseas into a set of large ledger books.

Ludlow Griscom recorded identification details of each bird species, estimated numbers of birds, observed behaviors, and made note of weather conditions.

Ludlow Griscom tested Peterson's paintings for the book's publisher, Houghton Mifflin, demonstrating that the renderings provided the right details that could be used to identify birds in the field.

Ludlow Griscom was a mentor to Allen Morgan, a fellow director of Massachusetts Audubon Society.

Ludlow Griscom had some 40,000 sheets of pressed plants in his own herbarium and the Gray Herbarium at Harvard.

Ludlow Griscom wrote favorably about game management practices in Great Britain; suggested reducing the issuance of non-resident hunting licenses; and argued for a closed season for ducks for a limited period of time, lest the birds become non-migrant and poor game.

From his position as an eminent ornithologist and officer of organizations like NAS, Ludlow Griscom was an activist on behalf of conservation issues, especially those that affected coastal Massachusetts and the Atlantic flyway.

Ludlow Griscom emphasized habitat preservation and public education, so that conservationists, sportsmen, voters, and policymakers alike could make informed decisions; he followed a path of moderation and compromise.

Ludlow Griscom had his first stroke in 1950, beginning a decade of failing health.

Ludlow Griscom retired from Harvard and the MCZ in 1955.

Ludlow Griscom was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Ludlow Griscom received the Conservation Medal from the National Audubon Society in 1956, and in that same year he was named an honorary president of the organization.