George B. Reynard

George Bergin Reynard (born January 9, 1914 in Toronto , Ontario , † March 9, 2008 in Riverton , New Jersey ) was an American botanist , bird watcher and bioacoustic specialist .

Life

One of Reynard's most important contributions to the ornithology of the Caribbean was the rediscovery of the Puerto Rican nightjar in the Guanica Forest on Puerto Rico in October 1961. As early as March of the same year, he was able to record the voice of this species.

After graduating from the Hiram Public School in Hiram , Ohio , Reynard studied from 1931 to 1935 at Hiram College , where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1935 . In June 1936 he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park , with a Master of Science degree. In May 1943 he was awarded a Ph.D. at the same university with the dissertation Polycotyledony in the genus Lycopersicon. PhD in agricultural botany.

Reynard then worked as a botanist for the Campbell Soup Company , for which he worked frequently in the Caribbean, in order to select high-quality growing areas for the breeding of new tomato varieties. These trips enabled him to document the birdsong of the Greater Antilles .

From the 1950s, Reynard recorded bird calls from over 850 species, which he sent to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology . Several of these recordings were carefully edited and released on cassette or CD, including Caribbean Bird Songs in Puerto Rico (1969 with Peter Paul Kellogg ), Bird Songs in Cuba (1988 with Orlando H. Garrido ), Bird Songs in the Dominican Republic (2000) and Bird Songs in Jamaica (2000 with Robert Sutton).

Reynards further contributions to Caribbean Ornithology included the rediscovery of the Puerto Rican Nightjar ( Antrostomus noctitherus ) in October 1961 which was considered in 1888 to be lost, the first voice recording of Haiti throttle ( Turdus swalesi ) in July 1961, the first breeding record of shale Rail ( Laterallus jamaicensis ) in Panama in July 1963 and the short-term rediscovery of the Cuban ivory woodpecker ( Campephilus principalis bairdii ) in March 1986 in collaboration with Lester L. Short , Jennifer F. Horne, Giraldo Alayón and Alberto R. Estrada . In 1997 he worked with Kenneth Carroll Parkes and Orlando H. Garrido on a revision of the striped head tangar ( Spindalis ).

In 1949 Reynard became a member of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club , where he served as secretary, vice president, and president from 1966 to 1967. He was twice honored with the Witmer Stone Award of the club, firstly for an article about the calls of the North American Rallen and secondly for an article about the Cuban snapper tyrant ( Contopus caribaeus ). In 1976 Reynard became an honorary member and in 1990 he received the DEVOC Award for the 100th anniversary of the club's foundation.

literature

• Christopher K. Walters: Obituary Dr. George B. Reynard (1914-2008) In Cassinia Vol. 72-73, 2009, pp. 67-68

Web links

• Selection of Reynard's bird song recordings in the Macauly Library of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology