Henry Wetherbee Henshaw was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 ornithologist.

Henshaw studied at Cambridge High School where he met William Brewster

William Brewster (ornithologist)

William Brewster was an American ornithologist. He was the curator of birds at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University from 1885 until his death. He was the co-founder, with Elliott Coues and Joel Asaph Allen, of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1883...

. In 1869 he was forced to give up school due to ill health, and went on a collecting trip to Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. This marked the start of his career as a field naturalist.

In 1870 Henshaw travelled to Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. In 1872 he went to Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

 as natural history collector on the Wheeler Expedition, continuing until it merged with the United States Geological Survey

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

 in 1879.

Henshaw was one of the founders of the Nuttall Ornithological Club.