Doug Pratt

Research Curator of Birds

B.S. (biology) Davidson College, 1966
M.S. (zoology) Louisiana State University, 1974
Ph.D. (zoology) Louisiana State University, 1979

Research Interests

Doug Pratt recording bird songs Current research continues longstanding investigations of bird speciation among islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean, to assist in development of the theoretical bases for setting species limits among allopatric forms. Special emphasis is given to the collection and analysis of bird sounds. Recent field expeditions under the auspices of the Museum include Fiji (November 2005), the Samoan Archipelago (November 2006) and Micronesia (April 2007). Based on these and previous trips, a series of papers and monographs are in preparation to include discussions of natural history, status and taxonomy of birds of Fiji, Samoa and Palau; new distributional records for birds in Micronesia and a revision of species limits in Micronesia and tropical Polynesia. These papers, and previous work, will be summarized in two books to be published by Princeton University Press several years hence. As an adjunct of research, continuing work as a biological illustrator of his own publications as well as those of others.

Ongoing projects include illustrations for the above-mentioned Princeton books and the encyclopedic Handbook of the Birds of the World (Lynx Edicions).

Professional Affiliations

Fellow, American Ornithologists’ Union, 1993
Research Associate, Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science
Affiliate, Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University
Member: Cooper Ornithological Society, Wilson Ornithological Society, British Ornithologists’ Club, New Zealand Ornithological Society

Recent Publications

Pratt, H. D., and M. Etpison. 2008. Birds and Bats of Palau. Mutual Publishing, Honolulu.

Reding, D. M., J. T. Foster, H. F. James, H. D. Pratt, & R. C. Fleischer. 2008. Convergent evolution of ‘creepers’ in the Hawaiian honeycreeper radiation. Biology Letters doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2008.0589.

Pratt, H. D., V. Masibalavu, and M. Abbott. 2008. Grey Heron Ardea cinerea sightings in Fiji. Notornis 55:42-43.

Pratt, H. D., M. L. P. Retter, D. Chapman, W. M. Ord, and P. Pisano. In press. An Abbott’s Booby (Papasula abbotti) on Rota, Mariana Islands: first historical record for the Pacific Ocean. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club.

Pratt, H. D., M. Falanruw, M. T. Etpison, D. Klauber, D. W. Buden, P. Clement, A. Gupta, D. R. Herter, H. Ketebengang, A. Olsen, P. Pisano, G. W. Wiles, & Y. P. Yalap. In review. Noteworthy bird observations in Micronesia, with indications of trends among seasonal visitors. Western Birds.

Pratt, H. D. In review. Reassessing species and subspecies of island birds: a new paradigm for documenting biodiversity. Ornithological Monographs.

Pratt, H. D. 2005. The Hawaiian honeycreepers: Drepanidinae. Bird Families of the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford. [Illustrated by the author.]

Pratt, H. D. 2002. Enjoying birds and other wildlife in Hawai'i. Mutual Publishing, Honolulu. [Second edition in preparation, expected 2009.]

Pratt, H. D., and I. L. Brisbin Jr. 2002. Hawaiian Coot (Fulica alai), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/697b

Pratt, H. D. 2002. Hawai'i Mamo (Drepanis pacifica), Black Mamo (Drepanis funerea), and Ula-‘ai-hawane (Ciridops anna). In The Birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.), No. 640. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Pratt, H. D., and T. K. Pratt. 2001. The interplay of species concepts, taxonomy, and conservation: lessons from the Hawaiian avifauna. Studies in Avian Biology 22:68-80.

Pratt, H. D. 2001. Why the Hawaii Creeper is an Oreomystis: What phenotypic characters reveal about the phylogeny of Hawaiian honeycreepers. Studies in Avian Biology 22:81-97.

Pratt, H. D. 1999. Pocket guide to Hawaii's Trees and Shrubs. Mutual Publishing, Honolulu.

Conant, S. L., H. D. Pratt, and R. J. Shallenberger. 1998. Reflections on a 1975 ornithological expedition to the lost world of the Alaka‘i, and other observations on the natural history, status, and systematics of Kaua‘i birds. Wilson Bulletin 110:1-22. [Winner of E. P. Edwards Award for best paper in Wilson Bulletin for 1998.

Lepson, J. K., and H. D. Pratt. 1997. ‘Akeke‘e (Loxops caeruleirostris). In The Birds of North America, No. 295 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington D. C.

Pratt, H. D. 1996. Voices of Hawaii's Birds Hawaii Audubon Society, Honolulu, and Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY. [Revision in preparation, expected 2008-9]

Pratt, H. D. 1994. Avifaunal change in the Hawaiian Islands, 1893-1993. Studies in Avian Biology 15:103-118.

Pratt, H. D. 1992. Systematics of the Hawaiian "creepers" Oreomystis and Paroreomyza. Condor 94:836-846.