Ludlow Griscom was an American

United States

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

 ornithologist known as a pioneer in field ornithology.

Biography

Griscom was born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, the son of Clement Acton Griscom and Genevieve Sprigg Ludlow. He was a protege of Frank Chapman

Frank Chapman

Frank Michler Chapman was a U.S. ornithologist and pioneering writer of field guides.Chapman was born in West Englewood, New Jersey and attended Englewood Academy. He joined the staff of the American Museum of Natural History in 1888 as assistant to Joel Asaph Allen...

, later working for Thomas Barbour

Thomas Barbour

Thomas Barbour was an American herpetologist. From 1927 until 1946, he was director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology founded in 1859 by Louis Agassiz at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts....

 at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

's Museum of Comparative Zoology

Museum of Comparative Zoology

The Museum of Comparative Zoology, full name "The Louis Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology", often abbreviated simply to "MCZ", is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three museums which collectively comprise the Harvard Museum...

, eventually becoming curator. In the 1920s and 1930s, he went on several expeditions collected birds in Central and South America. Among the birds collected was the now-extinct Atitlan Grebe

Atitlán Grebe

The Atitlán Grebe , also known as Giant Grebe, Giant Pied-billed Grebe, or Poc, is an extinct water bird, a relative of the Pied-billed Grebe. It was endemic at the Lago de Atitlán in Guatemala at an altitude of 1700 m asl. Thanks to the field work of the American ecologist Anne LaBastille, its...

, which he described for science. Even on field trips within the United States, Griscom kept detailed notes on bird observations, which are still on display at the Peabody Essex Museum

Peabody Essex Museum

The Peabody Essex Museum , originally the Peabody Museum of Salem and the Essex Institute, in Salem, Massachusetts is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States, and holds one of the major collections of Asian art in the US; its total holdings include about 1.3 million pieces, as...

. From his studies, he was able to establish the now prevalent notion that birds could be identified effectively from field marks, without needing to be collected 1. He was a mentor to both Allen Morgan

Allen Morgan

Allen Morgan of Wayland, Massachusetts was a noted ornithologist, tireless environmental advocate, avid tennis player, and founder of Sudbury Valley Trustees.-Quotations:...

 and Roger Tory Peterson

Roger Tory Peterson

Roger Tory Peterson , was an American naturalist, ornithologist, artist, and educator, and held to be one of the founding inspirations for the 20th century environmental movement.-Background:...

. He was instrumental in encouraging Peterson to write his first field guide.

Griscom retired from Harvard in 1955. In 1957, he was offered the position of President of the American Ornithologists' Union

American Ornithologists' Union

The American Ornithologists' Union is an ornithological organization in the USA. Unlike the National Audubon Society, its members are primarily professional ornithologists rather than amateur birders...

, but resigned almost immediately due to poor health, being succeeded by Ernst Mayr

Ernst Mayr

Ernst Walter Mayr was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, historian of science, and naturalist...

. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

 and is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Mount Auburn Cemetery

Mount Auburn Cemetery was founded in 1831 as "America's first garden cemetery", or the first "rural cemetery", with classical monuments set in a rolling landscaped terrain...

.

The American Birding Association

American Birding Association

The American Birding Association is a non-profit organization of people interested in birding. Begun in 1968, the ABA is the only organization in North America that specifically caters to recreational birders. Membership is open to all...

's Ludlow Griscom Award

Ludlow Griscom Award

The Ludlow Griscom Award for Outstanding Contributions in Regional Ornithology is an award bestowed by the American Birding Association upon individuals who are determined to have "dramatically advanced the state of ornithological knowledge for a particular region", through long-term studies of...

for Outstanding Contributions to Regional Ornithology, the highest honor of its kind in the United States, was created in his honor.

Works

• (with Alexander Sprunt Jr.) "The Warblers of North America", New York: Devin-Avair (1957).
• (with Dorothy L. Snyder) "The Birds of Massachusetts", Salem: Peabody Museum (1955)
• "Audubon's Birds of America", Macmillan (1950)
• "The Birds of Concord", Cambridge: Harvard University Press (1949)
• (with E. V. Folger) "The Birds of Nantucket", Cambridge: Harvard University Press (1948)
• "Modern Bird Study", Cambridge: Harvard University Press (1945)