|
In Memoriam: Theodore A. Parker III, 1953-1993
By John M. Bates, Division of Birds, and Thomas S. Schulenberg, Environmental & Conservation Programs, The Field Museum
Parker was known for his unique ability to identify nearly 4,000 species of birds by their sound alone.
Photo by Ken Rosenberg |
Ted was born on 1 April 1953 and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in a family that encouraged his childhood interest in natural history. Ted soon demonstrated remarkable ability in bird identification and observation. He used these skills to achieve fame as a "birder" in North America while still in his teens, as a bird tour leader (principally for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours), and, especially following his association with Louisiana State University, as a field researcher.Ted was not the first ornithologist to travel widely in South America, but he possessed an uncanny ability to fully assimilate what he was seeing, to identify common patterns in behavior or vocalizations or community structure across the continent, and to demonstrate that indeed someone could master an avifauna whose size and complexity intimidated everyone else.
Before he finished high school, Parker established a national record for the most birds sighted in North America in a year.
Photo by John Maier, Jr. |
Ted generously provided advice and encouragement to all who shared his interests. Although he studied many aspects of bird biology, one of his principal interests was bird vocalizations. Far more important than the fame Ted achieved for his skills at learning the voices of tropical birds was the example he provided as a field recordist; he was instrumental in propelling the Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology into one of the world's premier archives of bird sounds.
Despite his often hectic travel schedule, Ted published extensively on his field work. At the time of his death his field ability was achieving its greatest impact through the innovative Rapid Assessment Program (RAP), which he founded and directed for Conservation International. We are only two among the many who mourn, not just the loss of a spirited and productive colleague, but also the loss of a friend. Ted was charismatic, playful, strong-willed, and above all, one of a kind. We miss not only the knowledge Ted had to share, but the companionship and joy he brought to so many.
Reproduced in part with permission from The Auk 114(1):110, 1997.
|
