Lester Leroy Short

Lester Leroy Short (born May 29, 1933 in Port Chester , New York ) is an American ornithologist. His main field of research is the order of the woodpecker birds .

Live and act

1955 graduated Short for Bachelor of Science at Cornell University . After studying zoology with Charles Sibley at Cornell University, he wrote his doctoral thesis in 1959 with the title Hybridization in the Flickers (Colaptes) of North America . From 1960 to 1962 he was an assistant professor at Adelphi University . From 1963 to 1966 he worked for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service . From 1966 to 1997 he was a bird curator at the American Museum of Natural History . In this position he went on expeditions to South America , Africa , Asia , Australia and the Pacific . In 1972 Short took part in an expedition to study the Okinawa woodpecker . After the 1973 Bulletin published the results of the expedition, the American public was made aware of the serious threat posed to the species and a planned construction of US naval facilities in its only habitat - the Yambaru Forest in northern Okinawa - was questioned and ultimately prevented . In 1986, Short was part of a team of Cuban and American ornithologists, including George B. Reynard , Jennifer F. Horne, Giraldo Alayón and Alberto R. Estrada , who managed to find the now possibly extinct Cuba ivory woodpecker ( Campephilus principalis bairdii ) for watch for a short time.

Woodpeckers of the World (1982) is one of Short's most famous books . In addition, he wrote over 250 scientific articles, including the first scientific descriptions of the yellow-eyed blackbird and the Kaempferspecht . In 1978 Short married the ornithologist and bioacoustician Jennifer Horne in Kenya , who died in 2008.

Works (selection)

• Hybridization in the Flickers (Colaptes) of North America , 1959
• Aves nuevas o poco comunes Corrientes, Republica Argentina , 1971
• Habits, Relationships, and Conservation of the Okinawa Woodpecker The Wilson Bulletin Vol. 85, no. March 1, 1973 (PDF; 1.0 MB)
• Birds of the World , 1975 (German birds , 1978)
• Woodpeckers of the World , 1982
• The Birdwatcher's Book of Lists: Lists for Recreation and Recordkeeping , 1987
• Annotated Check-list of the Birds of East Africa , 1990
• The Birdwatcher's Book of Lists: Western Region , 1992
• The Birdwatcher's Book of Lists: Eastern Region , 1992
• The Lives of Birds: Birds of the World and Their Behavior , 1993
• Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides: Ramphastidae, Capitonidae and Indicatoridae (Bird Families of the World) , 2001

Web links

• Biography (PDF file; 7.23 MB)