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{{short description|American
{{Infobox scientist | name = Alexander Frank Skutch | image = AlexanderFSkutch.jpg<!--(filename only)--> | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|05|20}} | birth_place = [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|05|12|1904|05|20}} | death_place = San Isidro de El General, [[Costa Rica]] | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} --> | residence = | citizenship = | nationality = | fields = [[Ornithology]]<br>[[Botany]]<br/>[[Philosophy]] | workplaces = | alma_mater = [[Johns Hopkins University]]| thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | author_abbrev_bot = Skutch | author_abbrev_zoo = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | signature = <!--(filename only)--> | signature_alt = | website = <!-- {{URL|www.example.com}} --> | footnotes = | spouse = Pamela Lankester}}
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Alexander Skutch was born in [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Pearce|first=Jeremy|date=June 17, 2004|title=Alexander Skutch, 99, Expert on Central American Birds|work=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/07/us/alexander-skutch-99-expert-on-central-american-birds.html}}</ref> He received a [[doctorate]] in [[botany]] from [[Johns Hopkins University]] in 1928. He then found employment with [[United Fruit Company]], which had a problem with [[banana]] diseases, for which it needed the expertise of a botanist. After an initial stay in [[Jamaica]], Skutch traveled to [[Guatemala]], [[Panama]] and [[Honduras]]. During this time he fell in love with the tropics and also acquired a deep interest in birds. He began studying their habits. Skutch collected [[plant]]s for museums to make money, but observing birds remained his life's main focus.
In 1941 Skutch purchased a farm in [[Costa Rica]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stiles|first=F. Gary|date=2005-04-01|title=In Memoriam: Alexander F. Skutch, 1904–2004|journal=The Auk|volume=122|issue=2|pages=708–710|doi=10.1642/0004-8038(2005)122[0708:IMAFS]2.0.CO;2|issn=0004-8038|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=
<blockquote>A lifelong [[vegetarian]], Skutch grew corn, [[yucca]] and other crops, and, without running water until the 1990s, bathed and drank from the nearest stream. He believed in "[[Simple living|treading lightly on the mother Earth]]". With his wife Pamela, daughter of the English naturalist, botanist, and [[orchidologist]] [[Charles H. Lankester]], whom he married in 1950, and their adopted son Edwin, he stayed there for the rest of his life.</blockquote>
Skutch wrote over 40 books and over 200 papers on ornithology, preferring a descriptive style and eschewing statistics and even [[bird ringing|banding]].<ref name=marren>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alexander-skutch-730566.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091213190733/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alexander-skutch-730566.html |archive-date=2009-12-13 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title= Alexander Skutch - Old-fashioned naturalist who became the world's foremost expert on Neotropical birds |last=Marren|first=Peter|date= June 14, 2004|work=[[The Independent]] |access-date=Aug 26, 2009}}</ref> He died eight days before his 100th birthday, in the same year that he received the [[Loye and Alden Miller Research Award]]. He is universally regarded as one of the world's greatest ornithologists.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://
==Selected publications==
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* 1977 – ''A Bird Watcher's Adventures in Tropical America''. (Corrie Herring Hooks series, No.3). University of Texas Press: Austin. {{ISBN|0-292-70722-3}}
* 1979 – ''The Imperative Call: A Naturalist's Quest in Temperate and Tropical America''. University of Florida Press: Gainesville. {{ISBN|0-8130-0579-5}}
* 1980 – ''A Naturalist on a Tropical Farm''. (Illustrated by Dana Gardner). University of California Press. {{ISBN|0-520-03802-9}}. [https://archive.org/details/naturalistontrop00skut Internet Archive, registration required]
* 1981 – ''New Studies of Tropical American Birds''. (Illustrated by Dana Gardner). (Publications of the Nuttall Ornithological Club No.19). Harvard University: Cambridge. {{ISBN|1-877973-29-7}}. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/57272736 BHL]
* 1983 – ''Birds of Tropical America''. (Illustrated by Dana Gardner). (Corrie Herring Hooks series, No.5). University of Texas Press: Austin. {{ISBN|0-292-74634-2}}
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* 1987 – ''Helpers at Birds' Nests: A Worldwide Survey of Cooperative Breeding and Related Behavior''. (Illustrated by Dana Gardner). (1st edition). University Of Iowa Press. {{ISBN|0-87745-150-8}}. [https://archive.org/details/helpersatbirdsne00skut_0 Internet Archive, registration required]
* 1987 – ''A Naturalist Amid Tropical Splendor''. (Illustrated by Dana Gardner). University of Iowa Press. {{ISBN|0-87745-163-X}}
* 1989 – ''A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica''. (With [[Frank Gary Stiles|F. Gary Stiles]]. Illustrated by Dana Gardner). Comstock Publishing Associates/Cornell University Press: Ithaca. {{ISBN|0-8014-2287-6}}. [https://archive.org/details/guidetobirdsofco0000stil Internet Archive, registration required]
* 1989 – ''Birds Asleep''. (Corrie Herring Hooks series, No.14). University of Texas Press: Austin. {{ISBN|0-292-70773-8}}. [https://archive.org/details/birdsasleep00skut Internet Archive, registration required]
* 1989 – ''Life of the Tanager''. (Illustrated by Dana Gardner). Comstock Publishing: Ithaca. {{ISBN|0-8014-2226-4}}
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* 1996 – ''Antbirds and Ovenbirds: Their Lives and Homes''. (Illustrated by Dana Gardner). University of Texas Press: Austin. {{ISBN|0-292-77705-1}}
* 1996 – ''Orioles, Blackbirds, and Their Kin: A Natural History''. (Illustrated by Dana Gardner). University of Arizona Press. {{ISBN|0-8165-1601-4}}
* 1996 – ''The Minds of Birds''. (Louise Lindsey Merrick Natural Environment Series, No.23). Texas A&M University Press: College Station. {{ISBN|0-89096-671-0}}<ref>{{cite journal|author=Kroodsma, Donald E.|author-link=Donald Kroodsma|title=Review of ''The Minds of Birds'' by Alexander F. Skutch|journal=BioScience|volume=48|issue=3|year=1998|pages=201–202|url=https://
* 1997 – ''Life of the Flycatcher''. (Illustrated by Dana Gardner). University of Oklahoma: Norman. {{ISBN|0-8061-2919-0}}
* 1999 – ''Helpers at Birds' Nests: A Worldwide Survey of Cooperative Breeding and Related Behavior''. (Illustrated by Dana Gardner). (2nd expanded edition). University Of Iowa Press. {{ISBN|0-87745-674-7}}
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[[Category:20th-century American philosophers]]
[[Category:20th-century American zoologists]]
[[Category:20th-century Costa Rican writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American botanists]]
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[[Category:American non-fiction environmental writers]]
[[Category:American ornithologists]]
[[Category:
[[Category:John Burroughs Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Orchidologists]]
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