Peterson, Roger Tory

Roger Tory Peterson, (born Aug. 28, 1908, Jamestown, N.Y., U.S.—died July 28, 1996, Old Lyme, Conn.), American ornithologist, author, conservationist, and wildlife artist whose field books on birds, beginning with A Field Guide to the Birds (1934; 4th ed. 1980), did much in the United States and Europe to stimulate public interest in bird study.

The “Peterson Field Guide Series” includes Peterson’s own books on birds of western North America (1954), eastern and central North America (1980), Britain and Europe (with British ornithologists Guy Mountfort and P.A.D. Hollum; 1954), and Mexico (1973), as well as his own volume on the wildflowers of eastern North America (with Margaret McHenney; 1968). In addition, the series includes a number of guides by other authors.

Peterson started drawing birds while in high school. He studied at the Art Students League, New York (1927–29), and the National Academy of Design, New York (1929–31). In painting for the field guides, he stressed those features of each species that would aid the reader in identifying it in the field. In addition to the field guides, he wrote many popular books of a more general nature, among them Birds Over America (1948), Wildlife in Color (1951), Wild America (1955), The Birds (1963), and The World of Birds (with James Fisher; 1964). He received many awards, including the Brewster Medal of the American Ornithologists’ Union (1944), the New York Zoological Society Gold Medal (1961), the World Wildlife Fund Gold Medal (1972), the Linné Gold Medal from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1976), and the U.S. Medal of Freedom (1980).

Peterson was an officer of many ornithological and conservation organizations, including the American Ornithologists’ Union, National Audubon Society, and International Committee for Bird Preservation.