Harold Douglas Pratt

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Harold Douglas Pratt (born July 23, 1944 in Charlotte , North Carolina ), often H. Douglas Pratt in publications , is an American ornithologist , wildlife photographer and illustrator. His main research interests are the avi fauna of Hawaii and the Pacific .

Life

After attending elementary and secondary school, Pratt graduated from South Mecklenburg High School in 1962. In 1966 he received a Bachelor of Science degree from Davidson College , Davidson , North Carolina . From 1966 to 1970 Pratt was employed as a biology teacher at the high schools of Charlotte and Gastonia, North Carolina. He also worked as a ranger and naturalist in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park during the summer months of 1969 and 1970. In 1973 he graduated with a Masters of Science from Louisiana State University . In 1979 he was with the thesis A systematic analysis of the endemic avifauna of the Hawaiian Islands under the direction of John Michael Fitzsimons at Louisiana State University for Ph.D. PhD. Before he became curator of the bird department of the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh in 2005 , he worked from 1980 as a research fellow at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge .

After Pratt made his first trips to Ecuador (1965) and Mexico (1966, 1971) as a student , his first major expedition took him to the Hawaiian Islands in 1974. Research trips to the Midway Islands (1975), the Hawaiian Islands (1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998), to Micronesia (1976, 1978, 1988, 2003, 2007), to Samoa followed (1977, 1992, 2006), to Palau (1978), to the Bahamas (1981), to Florida (1981, 1991), to Taiwan (1986), to the West Indies (1990), to Malaysia (1990), to Indonesia (1990), the Fiji Islands (1992, 2005), the Cook Islands (1992), Vanuatu (1992), Kenya (1992), Panama (1993), Tonga (1995), to Kiribati (1995) and after Guam (2004).

In Hawaii and other Pacific islands, Pratt was one of the pioneers in voice recording of endemic bird species.

Pratt wrote several revisions within the tribe of the honeycreeper . In 1979 he renamed the Hawaiian sickle bird from Hemignathus wilsoni to Hemignathus munroi . In 1989 he transferred the Kauai Amakihi honeysuckle from the genus Himatione to the genus Hemignathus . In 2009 he transferred the Hawaiian branchwalker from the genus Oreomystis to the new genus Manucerthia .

Pratt is a member of the American Ornithologists' Union .

Works (selection)

  • 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 Shurbs
  • 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

Although Pratt had no formal art training, he illustrated at least 20 books, including several panels in the standard work Handbook of the Birds of the World .

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Pratt, Harold Douglas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pratt, H. Douglas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American ornithologist
DATE OF BIRTH July 23, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Charlotte , North Carolina