Ornithologist. A Quaker born in Philadelphia who attended Westtown School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, he developed an interest in natural history in general and bird collecting in particular. In 1833, he was invited by the botanist Thomas Nuttall to join him on Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth's second expedition across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Townsend collected a number of animals new to science. These included birds such as the Mountain Plover, Vaux's Swift, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Townsend's Warbler and Sage Thrasher, and a number of mammals such as the Douglas Squirrel. Two bird species, Townsend's Solitaire and Townsend's Warbler, are named in his honor.
Ornithologist. A Quaker born in Philadelphia who attended Westtown School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, he developed an interest in natural history in general and bird collecting in particular. In 1833, he was invited by the botanist Thomas Nuttall to join him on Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth's second expedition across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Townsend collected a number of animals new to science. These included birds such as the Mountain Plover, Vaux's Swift, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Townsend's Warbler and Sage Thrasher, and a number of mammals such as the Douglas Squirrel. Two bird species, Townsend's Solitaire and Townsend's Warbler, are named in his honor.
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