Allan Dudley Cruickshank (August 29, 1907October 11, 1974) was an American
ornithologist
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
and writer. He wrote many books about birds and was the
National Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...
's official photographer and a staff member for 37 years.
Cruickshank was born in
St. Thomas, the Virgin Islands (then under Danish control) on August 29, 1907, but grew up in New York where he began to take part in Christmas Bird Counts from 1922 as part of a group at the Evander Childs High School. He later became a bird educator for the National Audubon, lecturing across the country with slides and films. It has been estimated that his audience may have numbered 2,900,000 people in all. He travelled around the country with his wife Helen taking photographs and also led bird tours in Africa, South America, and Europe. He served as a president of the Linnean Society of New York, received the
John Burroughs Medal The John Burroughs Medal, named for nature writer John Burroughs (1837–1921), is awarded each year in April by the John Burroughs Association to the author of a book that the association has judged to be distinguished in the field of natural hist ...
in 1949
and the Arthur A. Allen Award of
Cornell University.
He died from kidney failure in
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...
, on October 11, 1974.
Books
Cruickshank wrote:
*''Birds Around New York City''
*''Wings in the Wilderness''
*''Hunting With the Camera''
*''Cruickshank's Pocket Guide to Birds''
*''1001 Questions about Birds''
*''Summer Birds of Lincoln County, Maine''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruickshank, Allan D.
American ornithologists
1907 births
1974 deaths
People from St. Thomas, Ontario
Nature photographers
20th-century American zoologists