Witmer Stone

Biography

Witmer Stone developed a passion for birds as a young man, eventually making the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia his professional home where he served for decades as curator of birds and mammals. He edited The Auk, the flagship journal of the American Ornithologists' Union, shepherding the publication through major transitions while also serving as the society's president.

Stone's fieldwork spanned the eastern United States, where he collected invaluable notes on migration, breeding, and habitat, and he published guides that helped both scientists and amateurs sharpen their observations. In later years he focused on conservation, believing that protecting wild places and living creatures was essential to the discipline he loved.