Delaware Valley Ornithological Club
| Abbreviation | DVOC |
|---|---|
| Formation | February 3, 1890 |
| Founded at | Philadelphia, PA |
| Purpose | Ornithology, Conservation, Education, Birding |
|
Region
|
Delaware River Valley |
| Website | http://www.dvoc.org |
The Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC) is the one of the oldest ornithology organizations in the United States. Founded in 1890, the club has held regular meetings at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for over 125 years, and has published the periodical Cassinia since 1901. Membership is open to any dues paying person with an interest in birds. The club organizes birdwatching field trips throughout the Delaware River valley region, including a dedicated year-round trip schedule within the city limits of Philadelphia (BirdPhilly).
The DVOC was founded on February 3, 1890 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by seven young men: (1) William Lloyd Baily, an architect who held the post of Inspector of Birds and Mammals at the Port of Philadelphia for 45 years; his uncle of the same name had authored the popular book Our Own Birds; a familiar natural history of the birds of the United States in 1867, (2) George Spencer Morris, an architect who was the great-nephew (on his mother's side) of Dr. John Spencer; Spencer had been a friend of Edward Harris, patron of John James Audubon, (3) J. Harris Reed, an architect who later became Philadelphia City Inspector, (4) Samuel Nicholson Rhoads, a farmer and bookseller who later suffered a mental breakdown and spent the remainder of his life in sanitariums, (5) Witmer Stone, who would become a famed naturalist and President of the American Ornithologists' Union and editor of its journal The Auk, (6) Spencer Trotter, a medical doctor and Professor of Biology at Swarthmore College, where Trotter Hall bears his name, and (7) Charles Voelker, a German-born taxidermist.
Many past and present members of the DVOC have been active at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. The founders and other early members of the DVOC contributed 2701 bird specimens, 65% of which were collected in the Delaware Valley, to the Ornithology Collection at the Academy.
...
Wikipedia