Editing Ornithology (section)

===Rise to popularity===
The use of [[field glass]]es or [[telescope]]s for bird observation began in the 1820s and 1830s, with pioneers such as [[John Freeman Milward Dovaston|J. Dovaston]] (who also pioneered in the use of bird feeders), but instruction manuals did not begin to insist on the use of optical aids such as "a first-class telescope" or "field glass" until the 1880s.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Allen, D. E.|year=1967|doi=10.3366/jsbnh.1967.4.6.277|title=J. Dovaston-a Pioneer of Field Ornithology|journal=Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History  |volume=4|issue=6|page=280}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Hollerbach, Anne Larsen|year=1996|title=Of Sangfroid and Sphinx Moths: Cruelty, Public Relations, and the Growth of Entomology in England, 1800–1840|journal=Osiris |series=2nd Series|volume=11|pages=201–220|doi=10.1086/368760|s2cid=143634420}}</ref>

[[File:VillageBirdsFlorenceMerriam.jpg|thumb|Page from an early field guide by [[Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey]]]]
The rise of field guides for the identification of birds was another major innovation. The early guides such as [[History of British Birds|Thomas Bewick's two-volume guide]] and [[History of British Birds (1843)|William Yarrell's three-volume guide]] were cumbersome, and mainly focused on identifying specimens in the hand. The earliest of the new generation of field guides was prepared by [[Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey|Florence Merriam]], sister of [[Clinton Hart Merriam]], the mammalogist. This was published in 1887 in a series ''Hints to Audubon Workers: Fifty Birds and How to Know Them'' in Grinnell's ''[[Audubon Magazine]]''.<ref name="barrow"/> These were followed by new field guides,<ref>{{cite web|last=Dunlap |first=Tom|title=Tom Dunlap on Early Bird Guides. Environmental History January 2005|url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/eh/10.1/gallery.html|access-date=2007-11-24}}</ref> 
from the pioneering illustrated handbooks of [[Frank Chapman (ornithologist)|Frank Chapman]] to the classic ''[[Field Guide to the Birds]]'' by [[Roger Tory Peterson]] in 1934, to ''[[Birds of the West Indies]]'' published in 1936 by [[James Bond (ornithologist)|Dr. James Bond]] - the same who inspired the amateur ornithologist [[Ian Fleming]] in naming his [[James Bond (literary character)|famous literary spy]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Briand |first1=Frederic |title=From Bird Scientist to Spy: the Name is Bond, James Bond. |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364995351 |work=National Geographic |date=November 2012}}</ref>

The interest in [[birdwatching]] grew in popularity in many parts of the world, and the possibility for amateurs to contribute to biological studies was soon realized. As early as 1916, [[Julian Huxley]] wrote a two-part article in ''[[The Auk]]'', noting the tensions between amateurs and professionals, and suggested the possibility that the "vast army of bird lovers and bird watchers could begin providing the data scientists needed to address the fundamental problems of biology."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Huxley |first=Julian|author-link=Julian Huxley|year=1916|title=Bird-watching and biological science (part 1)|journal=Auk|volume=33|issue=2|pages=142–161|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v033n02/p0142-p0161.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v033n02/p0142-p0161.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|doi=10.2307/4072162|jstor=4072162}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Huxley, J.|year=1916|title=Bird-watching and biological science (part 2)|journal=Auk|volume=33|issue=3|pages=256–270|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v033n03/p0256-p0270.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v033n03/p0256-p0270.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|doi=10.2307/4072322|jstor=4072322}}</ref> The amateur ornithologist [[Harold F. Mayfield]] noted that the field was also funded by non-professionals. He noted that in 1975, 12% of the papers in American ornithology journals were written by persons who were not employed in biology related work.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mayfield |first=Harold F.|year=1979|title=The amateur in ornithology|url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v096n01/p0168-p0171.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v096n01/p0168-p0171.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|journal=The Auk|volume=96|issue=1|pages=168–171|doi=10.1093/auk/96.1.168}}</ref>

Organizations were started in many countries, and these grew rapidly in membership, most notable among them being the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]] (RSPB) in Britain and the [[Audubon Society]] in the US, which started in 1885. Both these organizations were started with the primary objective of conservation. The RSPB, born in 1889, grew from a small [[Croydon]]-based group of women, including [[Eliza Phillips]], [[Etta Lemon]], Catherine Hall and [[Hannah Poland]]. Calling themselves the "Fur, Fin, and Feather Folk", the group met regularly and took a pledge "to refrain from wearing the feathers of any birds not killed for the purpose of food, the [[ostrich]] only exempted." The organization did not allow men as members initially, avenging a policy of the [[British Ornithologists' Union]] to keep out women.<ref name="allen"/> Unlike the RSPB, which was primarily conservation oriented, the [[British Trust for Ornithology]] was started in 1933 with the aim of advancing ornithological research. Members were often involved in collaborative ornithological projects. These projects have resulted in atlases which detail the distribution of bird species across Britain.<ref name=bibby2003>{{cite journal|last=Bibby |first=Colin J.|year=2003|title=Fifty years of Bird Study: Capsule Field ornithology is alive and well, and in the future can contribute much more in Britain and elsewhere|journal=Bird Study|volume=50|issue=3|pages=194–210|doi=10.1080/00063650309461314 |s2cid=87377120}}</ref> In Canada, citizen scientist [[Elsie Cassels]] studied migratory birds and was involved in establishing Gaetz Lakes bird sanctuary.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62181407|title=Fish, fur & feathers : fish and wildlife conservation in Alberta 1905-2005.|date=2005|publisher=Fish and Wildlife Historical Society|others=Federation of Alberta Naturalists., Fish and Wildlife Historical Society.|isbn=0-9696134-7-4|location=Edmonton|oclc=62181407}}</ref> In the United States, the [[Breeding bird survey|Breeding Bird Surveys]], conducted by the [[United States Geological Survey]], have also produced atlases with information on breeding densities and changes in the density and distribution over time. Other volunteer collaborative ornithology projects were subsequently established in other parts of the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBS/|title=North American Breeding Bird Survey}}</ref>