Robert Sterling Ridgely (born 14 January 1946) is 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 ...

, specializing in the

neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...

. He is the co-author of three books on neotropical ornithology: the field guide ''The Birds of

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

'' (with John Gwynne), ''The Birds of

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

'' (with Paul Greenfield), and ''The Birds of South America'' (with Guy Tudor), of which two monumental volumes (out of four), covering the

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

s, have appeared. He was long affiliated with the

Academy of Natural Sciences The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...

in Philadelphia, then Vice-President at the

American Bird Conservancy American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is a non-profit membership organization with the mission of conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. Its focus is on threats to birds in the Western Hemisphere – threats which include ov ...

until 2006. In 2001 he was awarded the

Linnaean Society of New York The Linnaean Society of New York (LSNY) was established in 1878, in the city of New York, United States of America, by a group of amateurs interested in natural science, especially ornithology. The founding members included H.P. Bailey, Eugene Pinta ...

Eisenmann Medal The Eisenmann Medal is awarded by the Linnaean Society of New York (LSNY) in recognition of the recipient's ornithological excellence and encouragement of amateur efforts in ornithology and birding. The medal commemorates the ornithologist and pro ...

. In 2006, he received the

Chandler Robbins Award The ABA Chandler Robbins Award for Education/Conservation is an award given by the American Birding Association to an individual who has made significant contributions either to the education of birders or to bird conservation and the "management o ...

from the

American Birding Association The American Birding Association (ABA) is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, dedicated to recreational birding in Canada and the United States. It has been called "the standard-bearer for serious birding in North America." Originally con ...

. He served as President of the

Rainforest Trust Rainforest Trust is a US-based nonprofit environmental organization focused on the purchase and protection of tropical lands to strategically conserve threatened species. Founded in 1988, Rainforest Trust was formerly known as World Parks Endowm ...

until 2021, then becoming President Emeritus, and is one of the founders of the conservation

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

Fundación de Conservación Jocotoco Fundación de Conservación Jocotoco (Jocotoco Conservation Foundation) is an Ecuadorian non-governmental environmental organization. It was established to purchase and protect land important to the conservation of endangered birds in Ecuador. Fund ...

which, working with the Trust, owns and manages ten nature reserves in

Discovery of the bird that barks

Ridgely and fellow birder John Moore discovered a new

antpitta Grallariidae is a family of smallish passerine birds of subtropical and tropical Central and South America known as antpittas. They are between 10 and 20 cm (4–8 in) in length, and are related to the antbirds, Thamnophilidae, and gn ...

during their trek through the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

in Southern

near the

Podocarpus National Park Podocarpus National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Podocarpus) is a national park located in the provinces of Zamora Chinchipe and Loja Province, Loja, in the south-east of Ecuador. It was created in 1982. It covers 1462.80 km2, from two spur ...

in November 1997. The bird is peculiar because of its unique call: it hoots and it ''barks''. The bird was named

jocotoco antpitta The jocotoco antpitta (''Grallaria ridgelyi'') is an endangered antpitta, a bird from Ecuador and Peru. It was discovered in 1997, and scientifically described in 1999. Description The jocotoco antpitta is a large (150–200 g) antpitta ...

(''Grallaria ridgelyi''). Ridgeley's antpitta is one of the largest birds discovered within the past 50 years. He suspects that it went undetected for so long because either it has a very small range or it barks only during a short breeding season.The Bird that Barks - SciAm June 22, 1998
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridgely, Robert American ornithologists Living people 1946 births