History of Ornithology at the Smithsonian

Ornithology is one of the historic passions of the Institution.

3 of the Smithsonians 11 Secretaries were noted ornithologists,

Spencer Baird	Alexander Wetmore	S. Dillon Ripley

from the pioneering exploration of North American birds in the mid-nineteenth century,	to the global pursuit of birds and bird fossils a century later,	and finally the authoritative accounts of rails and of the avifauna of the Indian subcontinent.

Today, the pursuit of ornithology at the Smithsonian is both broad and deep, thanks in part to the scholarship and legacy of these 3 past leaders.