Frederick Lincoln

Dr. Frederick C. Lincoln (1892 - 1960) remains a giant in birding circles, both because of his scientific skills and reputation and his ability to translate technical information into popular literature. A wildlife biologist who devoted his career to the study of North American birds, Lincoln was the director of the Bureau of Biological Survey’s bird banding office during a distinguished career that spanned 40 years, from 1920 to 1960. In 1926, Lincoln produced the first scientific publication describing methods of capturing and banding waterfowl; his “Lincoln Index” is a mathematical capture-recapture estimate of animal abundance, used to estimate the size of waterfowl populations. In the 1920’s, Lincoln developed the concept, based in part on bird banding data, of four great continental migratory bird flyways, providing the emerging National Wildlife Refuge System with a blueprint for the acquisition and management of the most valuable habitat for ducks, geese, and migratory songbirds. In 1931, he convinced the U.S. Army to assist him with waterfowl reconnaissance flights over duck populations in the Potomac River south of Washington, D.C., earning, according to one later U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expert, “credit for being the first in the Biological Survey to recognize the potential of their airplane as a tool in waterfowl management and to do something about it.” Lincoln’s seminal work, “Migration of Birds,” first published in 1935, remains one of the Federal Government’s most popular publications, having sold more than 140,000 copies, and was considered the best book of its time on North American waterfowl. “He wrote with a style that made the topic fascinating to the young and old, to the educated and uninformed, and to the ardent observer as well as the backyard watcher,” one later editor concluded.