The Ludlow Griscom Award for Outstanding Contributions in Regional Ornithology is an award

Award

An award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...

 bestowed by 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...

 upon individuals who are determined to have "dramatically advanced the state of ornithological

Ornithology

Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...

 knowledge for a particular region", through long-term studies of status and distribution, the writing and/or publication of field guide

Field guide

A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife or other objects of natural occurrence . It is generally designed to be brought into the 'field' or local area where such objects exist to help distinguish between similar objects...

s to birds of a certain area, work as part of a breeding bird atlas

Bird atlas

A bird atlas is an ornithological work that attempts to provide information on the distribution, abundance, long-term change as well as seasonal patterns of bird occurrence and usually represented in the form of maps...

 project, through the publishing of academic papers on regional ornithology, or through their efforts in inspiring and teaching about the subject of birding.

One of five awards presented by the ABA for contributions to ornithology, the award is named after Ludlow Griscom

Ludlow Griscom

Ludlow Griscom was an American ornithologist known as a pioneer in field ornithology.-Biography:Griscom was born in New York City, the son of Clement Acton Griscom and Genevieve Sprigg Ludlow. He was a protege of Frank Chapman, later working for Thomas Barbour at Harvard University's Museum of...

, considered the "Dean of the Birdwatchers", a pioneer in field ornithology, and one of the first ornithologists to stress the possibility of identification

Identification (biology)

Identification in biology is the process of assigning a pre-existing individual or class name to an individual organism. Identification of organisms to individual names may be based on individualistic natural body features Identification in biology is the process of assigning a pre-existing...

 of birds in the field as opposed to the collection of specimen

Specimen

A specimen is a portion/quantity of material for use in testing, examination, or study.BiologyA laboratory specimen is an individual animal, part of an animal, a plant, part of a plant, or a microorganism, used as a representative to study the properties of the whole population of that species or...

s.

Considered by many to be birding's highest honor, the award is the highest honor the American Birding Association can bestow upon an individual. The Ludlow Griscom Award was first presented to 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:...

, considered the father of the modern field guide, in 1980. After being awarded in 1981, two years were skipped before, starting in 1984, the award was presented biannually until 1999, when it was switched to being awarded on an annual basis.

List of winners

Since the award's inception in 1980, there have been 22 recipients, including one double award.

Year	Name	Notes
1980	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:...
1981	Olin Sewall Pettingill Jr Olin Sewall Pettingill Jr Olin Sewall Pettingill, Jr., , better known as Sewall Pettingill, was an American naturalist, author and filmmaker, president of the Wilson Ornithological Society from 1948 to 1950, a member of the Board of Directors of the National Audubon Society from 1955 to 1974, and a Life Fellow of the...
1984	Chandler Robbins
1986	Jim Lane
1988	Susan Roney Drennan
1990	Guy McCaskie
1992	Kenn Kaufman Kenn Kaufman Kenn Kaufman is an American author, artist, naturalist, and conservationist, known for his work on several popular field guides of birds and butterflies in North America....	Youngest award winner
1994	Theodore A. Parker III Theodore A. Parker III Theodore A. "Ted" Parker III was an American ornithologist who specialized in the Neotropics. He "was widely considered the finest field birder / ornithologist that the world had ever seen." .-Biography:...	Posthumous award
1996	Richard Pough Richard Pough Richard Pough was an American conservationist who served as the first president of The Nature Conservancy. He helped publicize and protect Hawk Mountain. He was instrumental in acquiring large tracts of land for the Open Space Institute. While at the American Museum of Natural History, he was...
1998	Claudia Wilds	Posthumous award
1999	Stuart Keith
2000	W. Earl Godfrey
2001	Peter Pyle
2002	Rich Stallcup
2003	Bob and Martha Sargent
2004	Bret Whitney
2005	Wayne R. Petersen
2006	James Dinsmore
2007	Ruth Green
2008	Bill Fenimore
2009	Jim McCormac
2010	Joseph Morlan