Harold Douglas Pratt Jr. (born July 23, 1944, in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

), often credited in the short form H. Douglas Pratt or as Doug Pratt, is an American ornithologist, bio acoustican, wildlife photographer, bird illustrator, and musician. His main research field are the endemic avifaunas of Hawaii and other islands in the Pacific where he was one of the pioneers of the voice recordings of birds. Pratt is a Fellow of the

American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

. In 1966, Pratt graduated to

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

at the

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

in Davidson, North Carolina. With his dissertation ''A systematic analysis of the endemic Avifauna of the Hawaiian Islands'' he promoted to

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

at the

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

in 1979. Before he became curator of birds at the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh he worked as research associate at the Louisiana State University in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of countie ...

from 1980 to 2005. In 1975, Pratt was one of the last scientists who were able to photograph the possible extinct ʻōʻū and one of several scientists to record the song of the extinct

Kauaʻi oʻo Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the List of islands of th ...

. Pratt wrote important revisions within the genus '' Zosterops'' and the subfamily

Drepanidinae Hawaiian honeycreepers are a group of small, passerine birds endemic to Hawaii. They are closely related to the rosefinches in the genus ''Carpodacus'', but many species have evolved features unlike those present in any other finch. Their great ...

. In 1987, he split the bridled white-eye into the three distinct species ''

Zosterops conspicillatus The bridled white-eye (''Zosterops conspicillatus'') (Chamorro name: ''nosa'') was a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It was endemic to the island of Guam in the Mariana Islands. The species' natural habitat was subtropical or tro ...

'', '' Zosterops semperi'', and '' Zosterops hypolais''. In 1979, he renamed ''Hemignathus wilsoni'' into '' Hemignathus munroi''. In 1989, he moved the

Kauai amakihi Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

from the genus '' Himatione'' to the genus ''

Hemignathus ''Hemignathus'' is a Hawaiian honeycreeper genus in the subfamily Carduelinae of the finch family, Fringillidae. These birds are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Extinctions Many of its species became extinct during the 19th and 20th centuri ...

''. In 2009, he suggested the new created genus ''Manucerthia'' for the Hawaiʻi creeper. Besides his scientific work Pratt is also a musician. He plays

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark o ...

and won the Walnut Valley Festival International Autoharp Championship in 2006.Walnut Festival Contests
/ref> In 2012, he published his first record ''You Can't Play That on the Autoharp!''

Selected works

* 1987: ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific'' * 1996: ''Hawaii's Beautiful Birds'' * 1996: ''Pocket Guide to Hawaii's Birds'' * 1999: ''Pocket Guide to Hawaii's Trees and Shrubs'' * 2002: ''Enjoying Birds and Other Wildlife in Hawaii'' * 2005: ''The Hawaiian Honeycreepers'' * 2006: ''Flowering Trees: Images of Hawaii's Natural Beauty'' * 2007: ''Birds: Images of Hawaii's Feathered Heritage'' * 2008: ''Birds & Bats of Palau'' Pratt has illustrated at least 20 books, including several plates in the

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

and he created several bird and mammal paintings in the

Encyclopædia Britannica The ( Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various ...

, despite having no formal art training.

References

External links

Official website by H. Douglas Pratt

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Harold Douglas American ornithologists Nature photographers American autoharp players Louisiana State University alumni Davidson College alumni Living people 1944 births American bird artists