Heintzelman, Donald S. 1938–

(Donald Shaffer Heintzelman)

PERSONAL: Born May 25, 1938, in Allentown, PA; son of Rewellien G. (a pattern maker) and Florence May (Shaffer) Heintzelman. Ethnicity: "Caucasian (Pennsylvania German)." Education: Muhlenberg College, A.B., 1965; graduate study at Lehigh University, 1965.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—6345 Ridge Rd., Apt. 2, Zionsville, PA 18092. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Globe-Times, Bethlehem, PA, staff photographer, 1957; Rodale Press, Emmaus, PA, staff photographer for Organic Gardening, 1958–66; William Penn Memorial Museum (now State Museum of Pennsylvania), Harrisburg, PA, associate curator of natural science, 1966–69; New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, curator of ornithology, 1969–73; ornithological and wildlife writer, lecturer, and consultant, 1973–. Wildlife Information Center, Inc., cofounder and executive director, 1986–88, president, 1988–97; conducted field research in North America, East Africa, Bermuda, the West Indies, the Galapagos and Falkland Islands, South America, and Antarctica. Film producer and photographer; workshop instructor.

AWARDS, HONORS: Louis Agassiz Fuertes grant, Wilson Ornithological Society, 1962; Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, Witmer Stone Award, 1963, for studies on autumn hawk migrations, Julian K. Potter Award, 1972, for high quality of ornithological work; decorated knight commander, Order of St. George, House of Habsburg, 1994; certificate of achievement, 2001, Donald S. Heintzelman Wildlife Library designated, 2004, and Lifetime Achievement Award for Raptor Research and Conservation, 2005, all from Wildlife Information Center, Inc.

WRITINGS:

The Hawks of New Jersey, New Jersey State Museum (Trenton, NJ), 1970.

A Guide to Northeastern Hawk Watching, privately printed (Lambertville, NJ), 1972.

Finding Birds in Trinidad and Tobago, privately printed (Allentown, PA), 1973.

Autumn Hawk Flights: The Migrations in Eastern North America, Rutgers University Press (New Brunswick, NJ), 1975, revised edition published as The Migrations of Hawks, Indiana University Press (Bloomington, IN), 1986

A Guide to Eastern Hawk Watching, Pennsylvania State University Press (University Park, PA), 1976.

North American Ducks, Geese, and Swans, Winchester Press (New York, NY), 1978.

A Manual for Bird Watching in the Americas, Universe Books (New York, NY), 1979.

Hawks and Owls of North America: A Complete Guide to North American Birds of Prey (Birding Book Club selection), Universe Books (New York, NY), 1979.

A Guide to Hawk Watching in North America, Pennsylvania State University Press (University Park, PA), 1979, revised edition, Globe Pequot Press (Guilford, CT), 2004.

The Illustrated Bird Watcher's Dictionary, Winchester Press (Tulsa, OK), 1980.

A World Guide to Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises, illustrated by Rod Arbogast, Winchester Press (Tulsa, OK), 1981.

The Birdwatcher's Activity Book, Stackpole Books (Harrisburg, PA), 1983.

Guide to Owl Watching in North America, Winchester Press (Piscataway, NJ), 1984.

Wildlife Protectors Handbook, Capra Press (Santa Barbara, CA), 1992.

The Complete Backyard Birdwatcher's Home Companion, Ragged Mountain Press (Camden, ME), 2000.

All-Weather Hawk Watcher's Field Journal, J.L. Darling (Tacoma, WA), 2002.

Hawks and Owls of Eastern North America, Rutgers University Press (New Brunswick, NJ), 2004.

Former columnist for local newspapers. Contributor of more than 100 articles and reviews and numerous photographs to ornithology and wildlife journals, including Wildlife Activist, Wild Ones Journal, Pennsylvania Crossings, National Wildlife, Explorers Journal, New Jersey Outdoors, Cassinia, Auk, Bird-Banding,, and Wilson Bulletin. Founder and editor, American Hawkwatcher, beginning 1982; editor and publisher, International Hawkwatcher, beginning 2000; past book review editor for New Jersey Nature News and EBBA News.

WORK IN PROGRESS: An autobiographical account of the author's wildlife and conservation adventures around the world; a book about waterfowl-watching in North America.

SIDELIGHTS: Donald S. Heintzelman once told CA: "Almost all of my writing deals with birds, mammals, and other wildlife and has one or more of four basic objectives: conservation, education, research, and recreation.

"My motivation for advancing wildlife conservation is explained in The Birdwatcher's Activity Book: 'Wildlife is important in its own right as part of the living fabric of the earth and deserves to live. Let us speak up on its behalf!' To do that, in the early 1970s I edited New Jersey's first list of endangered wildlife. It was one of the first of its kind in America and served as a model for many other state endangered wildlife projects. As a result of my proposals in books and articles for National Birds of Prey Conservation Week, in 1984 Congress enacted legislation to provide for that event.

"My World Guide to Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises was one of the first of its kind. It resulted from my Antarctic voyages on the Lindblad Explorer during which I discovered the lack of a good field guide to whales. In a similar manner, my hawk-watching and owl-watching guides were outgrowths of detailed research projects and the lack of special field guides for those birds.

"My long-term hawk migration studies, for which I am known most widely in North America and overseas, began in 1956 in Pennsylvania and continues to the present time. More than 10,000 hours of observation are logged on the hawk-watching lookouts at Bake Oven Knob, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, and more than 330,000 hawks have been counted. Numerous popular and technical articles resulted from this work, along with my various books on hawks.

"Many recreational birders, hawk watchers, owl watchers, and whale watchers also derive pleasure from using my field guides and other wildlife books. Some of these readers developed conservation or research projects of their own after reading my books. Thus my efforts to speak up on behalf of wildlife are helping others to do the same. I consider that my most important achievement."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Book Review Annual, 1981, review of A Manual for Bird Watching in the Americas, p. 334; 1982, review of The Illustrated Bird Watcher's Dictionary, p. 372.

Booklist, December 15, 1977, review of A Guide to Eastern Hawk Watching, p. 706; May 1, 1979, review of North American Ducks, Geese, and Swans, p. 1395; January 15, 1985, review of Guide to Owl Watching in North America, p. 672; December 1, 2003, Nancy Bent, review of Hawks and Owls of Eastern North America: A Complete Guide to North American Birds of Prey, p. 640.

Choice, June, 1975, review of Autumn Hawk Flights: The Migrations in Eastern North America, p. 558; March, 1979, review of North American Ducks, Geese, and Swans, p. 102; January, 1987, review of The Migrations of Hawks, p. 781.

Library Journal, September 1, 1978, review of North American Ducks, Geese, and Swans, p. 1648; May 1, 1983, Henry T. Armistead, review of The Birdwatcher's Activity Book, p. 912; July 16, 1986, Paul B. Cors, review of The Migrations of Hawks, p. 95.

Nature, December 1, 1983, review of The Birdwatcher's Activity Book, p. 514.

New York Times, December 23, 1959.

Science Books and Films, September, 1979, review of North American Ducks, Geese, and Swans, p. 89; May, 1980, review of Hawks and Owls of North America, p. 267; January, 1987, review of The Migrations of Hawks, p. 161.

SciTech Book News, December, 1986, review of The Migrations of Hawks, p. 15; September, 2004, review of A Guide to Hawk Watching in North America, p. 65.

Yankee, December, 1979, Geoffrey Elan, review of A Guide to Hawk Watching in North America, p. 186.