Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

The next round of the Babe Ruth of Ornithology begins now! As the updated brackets show below, Alexander Wilson faces off against Charles Lucien Bonaparte this week followed by Peter Scott vs. Lulow Griscom, Margaret Morse Nice vs. Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey, and Konrad Lorenz vs. Charles Darwin. As I explained last week, the goal of the second round is to determine whose argument involving birds was more persuasive and had a larger impact upon the bird world. So without further adieu, let the games commence! Perhaps the most well known aspect of both Wilson's and Bonaparte's careers was the compilation, editing, and final publication of one of the early crowning achievements of American ornithology. The work known as "American Ornithology" started as the brainchild of Alexander Wilson who was inspired by other naturalists at the time to create a reference guide for the bird species to be found in the relatively new and unexplored world that was North Americ...

It's time for round 2 in the search for the Babe Ruth of Ornithology! This weeks contestants are Charles Lucien Bonaparte and Elliott Coues! The format will be the same as last weeks with a brief blurb about each contestants background and achievements and a summary of each of the positive and negative contributions they gave to ornithology. So without further adieu, here are this weeks contestants: As the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, he conquered the birds of the North American continent, not for glory, but instead for science! Charles Lucien Bonaparte (1803-1857) was the nephew of the Corsican-born ruler of France that everyone knows from history class, but this isn't his story. This Bonaparte was one of the most gifted, foreign-born ornithologists that ever graced America's shores and his work helped to cement him into the annals of ornithological history. Even before arriving the U.S., he discovered a new species of Old World warbler and upon arrival in the New Wo...