Edward H. Burtt, Jr. Ornithology Award

The Edward H. Burtt, Jr. Award for Innovative Research recognizes the young investigator who has brought together ideas from different fields of biology or different scientific disciplines to provide us with a new perspective on the lives of birds, a perspective that is likely to stimulate additional research.

Student presenters (high school through doctorate degree candidates) at the Ohio Avian Research Conference are eligible for this award.

This award fund is hosted and managed by the Ohio Biological Survey, and contributions are considered tax deductible.

Please help honor the teaching and scientific contributions of Dr. Burtt, and support the research and education of an emerging ornithologist.
(Jed Burtt, Jr. ca.1972, Great Island, Newfoundland)

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Biography

Edward H. (Jed) Burtt, Jr. (A.B., M.S., Ph.D.)

Jed Burtt is an ornithologist whose research into the microbiology of feathers led to his discovery of feather-degrading bacteria on wild birds, new insights into the evolution of avian color and maintenance behavior, also patents on a composting process for feather-waste from the poultry industry. He serves as co-director of the Ohio Wesleyan Honors Program and was recognized as the 2011 Ohio Professor of the year by the Kresge Foundation for Higher Education and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. In 2010 he was elected a Fellow of the International Ornithological Union, one of 100 Fellows worldwide. In 2013 he received the Margaret Morse Nice Medal from the Wilson Ornithological Society for lifetime contributions to ornithology.

Education:
 A.B., Bowdoin College 1970
 M.S., University of Wisconsin-Madison 1973
 Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison 1977

Areas of expertise:
 Ornithology
 Avian microbiology
 Early history of American ornithology

Books:

Burtt, E. H. , Jr. and W. E. Davis, Jr. 2013. Alexander Wilson: the Scot who founded American Ornithology. Harvard University Press, xiv and 435 pp. (Selected as finalist for non-fiction book of 2014 by Ohio Library Association).

Burtt, E. H., Jr. (ed.). 2003. Wilson Ornithological Society Manual of Ornithology. (entire manual and individual lab and field exercises available online through the Wilson Ornithological Society, published in hard copy in English and Spanish by the US Fish and Wildlife Service for use in their Latin American biology training programs).

Burtt, E. H., Jr. 1994. Birds, butterflies, and mammals of Honey Run. Independent Printers, Columbus, v + 77 p.

Gosler, A. (ed.), E. H. Burtt, Jr., M. Kelsey, M. Ogilvie, A. Lewis, M.W. Woodcock, and H. A Ford. 1991. The Photographic Guide to Birds of the World. Mallard Press, NY. (Each author wrote about the ecology of a region of the world and species accounts for subset of the region’s birds. I wrote about the Nearctic [North America north of Mexico].)

Burtt, E. H., Jr. 1986. An analysis of physical, physiological and optical aspects of avian coloration with emphasis on Wood Warblers. Ornithol. Monogr. 38:x + 126 p.

Burtt, E. H., Jr. (ed.) 1979. The Behavioral Significance of Color. Garland STPM Press, New York, xiv + 456 p.

Selected Scientific Articles:

 Burtt, E. H., Jr. and J. M. Ichida. 1999. Occurrence of feather-degrading bacilli in the plumage of birds. Auk 116: 364-372.

 Burtt, E. H., Jr. and J. M. Ichida. 2004. Gloger’s Rule, feather-degrading bacteria, and color variation among Song Sparrows. Condor 106: 681-686.

 Burtt, E. H., Jr. and J. M. Ichida. 2006. Selection for feather structure. Acta Zoologica Sinica 52 (Supplement):131-135.

 Burtt, E. H., Jr., M .R. Schroeder*, L. A. Smith*, J. E. Sroka*, and K. J. McGraw. 2010. Colourful parrot feathers resist bacterial degradation. Biol. Letters 6: (doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2010.0716).

 Peele*, A. M., E. H. Burtt, Jr. M. R. Schroeder*, and R. S. Greenberg. 2009. Dark color of Coastal Plains Swamp Sparrows may be an evolutionary response to occurrence and abundance of salt tolerant, feather-degrading bacilli in its plumage. Auk 126: 531-536.

 Ruiz-de-Casteñada, R., E. H. Burtt, Jr., S. González-Braojos, and J. Moreno. 2012. Bacterial degradability of an intrafeather unmelanized ornament: a role for feather-degrading bacteria in sexual selection? Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 105: 409-419.

 Williams, S. M. and E. H. Burtt, Jr. 2010. How birds’ bills help them see. Birding 42(3): 32-38.