doctoral_advisor death_place birth_place nationality fields workplaces birth_date image article_title
joseph grinnell salt lake city , utah salt lake city , utah american ornithology university of utah 13 may 1909 william h. behle.jpg william h. behle

william h. behle

william harroun behle -lrb- may 13 , 1909 -- february 26 , 2009 -rrb- was an american ornithologist from utah .
he published around 140 papers on the biogeography and taxonomy of birds , focusing largely on birds of the great basin .
behle was born in salt lake city , utah on may 13 , 1909 , the second of three children of parents augustus calvin behle , a surgeon , and daisy may behle .
william studied at the university of utah , earning a b.a. in 1932 and m.a. in 1933 , then pursued doctoral work at the university of california , berkeley , under joseph grinnell , earning a phd in 1937 .
aside from four summers as a naturalist at grand canyon national park , he spent the majority of his career as a professor at the university of utah , where he worked from 1937 until his retirement in 1977 , and continued to perform research as professor and curator emeritus .
behle was a fellow of the american ornithologists ' union and american association for the advancement of science , president -lrb- 1972 -- 1974 -rrb- of the cooper ornithological society , and member of the wilson ornithological society .
he is commemorated in the scientific name of a tarantula species , `` aphonopelma behlei '' , named by his colleague ralph v. chamberlin in 1940 .
behle 's contributions to ornithology include some 140 papers on bird distribution and taxonomy , and the description of several subspecies -lrb- geographic races -rrb- , including the western purple martin -lrb- subspecies `` progne subis arboricola '' -rrb- and a race of slate-colored fox sparrow .
behle 's 1990 book `` utah birds : historical perspectives and bibliography '' focused the history of ornithology in utah from 1776 to modern times , with biographical accounts of collectors and researchers , amateur and professional alike .
uc berkeley professor ned k. johnson called it `` the most detailed ornithological history of any extensive region of north america . ''
in 1934 , behle married dorothy davis , who died in 2001 .
william behle died on february 26 , 2009 at the age of 99 , and was survived by two sons .
