Brewster-Sanford Expedition

The Brewster–Sanford expedition was an ornithological collecting expedition which procured specimens, principally of South American seabirds, for the collections of the American Museum of Natural History. It was initiated by Dr. Leonard Cutler Sanford and financially supported by Frederick F. Brewster, both of New Haven, Connecticut. The expedition took place from 1912 to 1917, with its core members the experienced bird collector Rollo Beck and his wife Ida, though additional assistance was used at many places. Although most of the nearly 8,000 specimens collected were seabirds, land birds were opportunistically acquired as well. Various watercraft were used in the course of the expedition, where much of the collection work was carried out at sea.

The Becks left San Francisco on 4 December 1912. The first collecting was carried out in Peru, working along the coast as well as making some inland trips. Based at shore stations, and using hired fishing boats, Rollo Beck would often row out to sea alone, and sometimes with a man to assist him, as far as 20 km offshore, collecting birds from dawn to dusk. 1913 was taken up by work along the coasts of Peru and Chile, with trips also made to the Juan Fernández Islands. 1914 saw the Becks working their way southwards along the Chilean coast to the Chiloé Archipelago and then, in July, to Magallanes Province.

Ramifications of the outbreak of war in Europe caused some difficulties for the Becks, but in August 1914 they visited the Falkland Islands and then moved to Mar del Plata, Argentina, where they were based until November. Then, after revisiting the Falklands, and using a hired sloop, the “Leguri,” the Becks spent December and January sailing and collecting in the waterways and islands around Cape Horn and the Beagle Channel.

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