Ludlow Griscom Award

The Cape Cod Bird Club’s Ludlow Griscom Award

HISTORY: The Ludlow Griscom Award is made by the Cape Cod Bird Club to a deserving individual for their contribution to the world of birding.  The contribution should relate to birding, in accordance with the mission of the CCBC as stated in the By-Laws.  It should be broadly interpreted so that it could simply be long-term service to the birding community, or a single significant act, or anything in between.  The Club should first look to its membership, but not exclusively so.

ABOUT LUDLOW GRISCOM:  Ludlow Griscom (June 17, 1890 – May 28, 1959) was an American ornithologist known as a pioneer in field ornithology. His emphasis on the identification of free-flying birds by field marks became widely adopted by professionals and amateurs.  Many called him “Dean of the Birdwatchers.”  After starting his ornithological career in New York City, he came to the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard in 1927, and he spent his remaining career working in Massachusetts.  He loved to bird on Cape Cod.  He was the major influence on Roger Tory Peterson, leading to the first edition of Peterson’s Field Guide to the Birds in 1934.  See Griscom’s Wikipedia article for full details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Griscom.

AWARDEES:  While originally proposed to be an annual award, in fact, the award has been made 9 times in 18 years as follows:

1998 Blair Nikula
1999 Charlotte Smith
2000 Peter Trimble
2001 Art King
2002 Mark Tuttle
2003 Roger Everett
2006 Stauffer and Ellie Miller
2011 Dick Jurkowski
2015 Mark Faherty