On the Wing #29: The Babe Ruth of Ornithology

In the summer of 2010, I came up with a list of ornithologists (mostly American with a few Brits and other folk) and pitted them together in a March Madness style birding bracket that would determine who is the greatest ornithologist of all time. To keep with consistency this time around, my rules are as follows:

1. They have to be deceased. Clears up a lot of space including living people today like Kaufmann and Sibley that have still the rest of their lives to contribute further. So yeah, you have to be dead.
2. Any country is good, but mostly Americans will be listed as they are the most well know to me.
3. Has to have made a significant contribution to ornithology (revolutionized field birding, improved bird identification, improved methods etc.)

Short rules indeed. So here's the list of candidates:

1. Salim Ali
2. Elliot Coues
3. Alexander Wilson
4. Charles Lucien Bonaparte
5. John James Audubon
6. John Gould
7. Charles Darwin
8. William Brewster
9. Ludlow Griscom
10. Konrad Lorenz
11. Peter Scott
12. Roger Tory Peterson
13. Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey
14. Margaret Morse Nice
15. Louis Aggasiz Fuertes
16. Edward Howe Forbush

And here is how the brackets will be set up:


A bit topsy-turvy, but should make for a very interesting competition.
Since I don't get enough traffic on these pages to warrant comment votes, I'll do the research myself and come up with my personal decision. Each week, a blog post will be dedicated to two match ups (to speed it up obviously) and I will decide who wins. There will be tears. There will be tooth-wrenching decisions. There will be no blood however (too messy).

My prediction for overall winner will be a tie between Wilson and Audubon or Darwin (because you don't mess with Darwin) I'm keen to make this work, but if you guys want to comment, feel free. Just remember I'm making the decisions here.

Hope y'all have a great week and as always, happy birding ^_^!

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