Stuart Keith
Stuart Keith | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 September 1931 Worcester College |
| Known for | The Birds of Africa |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Ornithology |
| Institutions | American Museum of Natural History |
George Stuart Keith (4 September 1931 – 13 February 2003) was an English and American
Early life
Keith was born on 4 September 1931 in
Career
He returned to North America in 1955.
In 1978, Keith joined the project that would compile the seven-volume series The Birds of Africa as a member of its Board of Advisors.[1] In 1980, he became a senior editor, sharing duties with Hilary Fry and Emil K. Urban.[1] He contributed the sections describing bulbuls and cisticolas, and had completed his work on the final volume (published in 2004) at the time of his death.[1]
With John Gooders, in 1980 he published the Collins Bird Guide to the birds of Britain and Europe.[1]
Keith made contributions in other media as well. In the 1960s, he produced a film about cranes in Japan; he produced a feature-length film on African birds.[1] He made recordings of bird songs from Madagascar and continental Africa; with William Gunn, he produced Birds of the African Rain Forests, the first recordings to specialize in the vocalizations of 90 species of African forest birds.[1]
It is for his accomplishments as a birder that Keith is most widely known. In 1956, he set a one-year record of 594 species seen in the United States and Canada.[1][6] He was the first to see 4,000 species worldwide, a total which he achieved in the 1970s.[1] At the time of his death, he had seen more than 6,500 species; however, he was surpassed by Phoebe Snetsinger, who is credited with almost 8,400 species.[1][2] Keith's feats were recorded in The Wall Street Journal, People, The New Yorker, and Bird Watcher's Digest.[1][6][7]
Recognition
In 1993 he was awarded the Linnaean Society of New York's Eisenmann Medal.[8] In 1999, he received the Ludlow Griscom Award from the ABA "in appreciation of his vision and leadership in shaping ABA and tireless passion and dedication to the birds of North America."[1][9]
Later life and death
Keith became a naturalized American citizen in 1994.[1] He died, of circulatory-related causes, on 13 February 2003 while on a birding trip to Chuuk in Micronesia, having seen a new life bird earlier in the day.[1][2]
Selected publications
- Keith, Stuart and John Gooders. 1980. Collins Bird Guide: A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe. Collins, London, UK. 767 pp. ISBN 978-0002191197.
- Urban, Emil K.; C. Hilary Fry; and Stuart Keith. 1986. The Birds of Africa, Volume II: Game Birds to Pigeons. Academic Press, London, UK. 552 pp. ISBN 9780121373023.
- Fry, C. Hilary; Stuart Keith; and Emil K. Urban. 1988. The Birds of Africa, Volume III: Parrots to Woodpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. 611 pp. ISBN 9780121373030.
- Keith, Stuart; Emil K. Urban; and C. Hilary Fry. 1992. The Birds of Africa, Volume IV: Broadbills to Chats. Academic Press, London, UK. 632 pp. ISBN 9780121373047.
- Urban, Emil K.; C. Hilary Fry; and Stuart Keith. 1997. The Birds of Africa, Volume V: Thrushes to Puffback Flycatchers. Academic Press, London, UK. 672 pp. ISBN 9780121373054.
- Fry, C. Hilary; Stuart Keith; and Emil K. Urban. 2000. The Birds of Africa, Volume VI: Picathartes to Oxpeckers. Academic Press, London, UK. 600 pp. ISBN 9780121373061.
- Fry, C. Hilary and Stuart Keith. 2004. The Birds of Africa, Volume VII: Sparrows to Buntings. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 728 pp. ISBN 9780691119526.
References
- ^ S2CID 85658650.
- ^ a b c d e Lewis, Paul (8 March 2003). "G. Stuart Keith, a Leading Bird-Watcher, 71". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
- ^ Gill, Boyd (22 June 1975). "Club Promotes Hobby and Sport of Birding". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. p. 51. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ^ Wilds, Claudia (February 1994). "The ABA from Hatching to Fledging". Birding. 26 (1). Retrieved 4 September 2012.
- ^ "Past Presidents & Board Chairs". Birding. 44 (4): 6. July 2012.
- ^ a b Merritt, James (25 June 1979). "Its Devotees Prefer 'Birding' to 'Bird-Watching'--whichever, Stuart Keith Is Their Superstar". People. 11 (25). Retrieved 26 October 2012.
- ^ Kinkead, Eugene (2 August 1969). "Our Local Correspondents: Central Park Bird Walk". The New Yorker. pp. 58–66. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
- ^ Linnaean Society of New York. "About Us". Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ^ American Birding Association. "ABA Award Recipients". Archived from the original on 16 May 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
External links
- Robertson, Don. 2003. In Memoriam: G. Stuart Keith.
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