Frederick Charles Lincoln

"Frederick Lincoln" redirects here and is not to be confused with people named Frederic Lincoln.

Frederick Charles Lincoln (5 May 1892 – 16 September 1960) was an American ornithologist.

Frederick C. Lincoln
Lincoln at his desk. From the U.S. National Archives and the U.S. Bird Banding Laboratory.
Born	(1892-05-05)May 5, 1892 Denver, Colorado
Died	September 16, 1960(1960-09-16) (aged 68) Washington, D.C.
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery
Nationality	American
Known for	Lincoln index, flyway concept
Scientific career
Fields	Ornithology

Early life and family

Lincoln was born on 5 May 1892 in Denver, Colorado.^[1]

Career

As a teenager working at the Colorado Museum of Natural History in 1909, Lincoln learned to prepare specimens from Alexander Wetmore (who was then a student working at the museum) and L. J. Hershey, the museum's Curator of Ornithology.^[1][2] Lincoln's interest in birds continued to develop, and he eventually went on to succeed Hershey as curator in 1913, a post which he held until 1920.^[1][2] He took time out in 1918–1919 to serve as pigeon expert in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.^[2] The professional relationship with Wetmore would continue: the two scientists took field trips together in Washington and Hispaniola and co-wrote eight publications.^[1]

In 1920, Lincoln joined the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey (at the time, a unit of the United States Department of Agriculture, and now part of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service^[3]) and was given the task of organizing and expanding the bird banding program nationwide.^[2] The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 had established federal responsibility for migratory birds; the result was that the North American Bird Banding Program took the place of earlier smaller-scale efforts by individuals and the short-lived American Bird Banding Association. During the period of his tenure, 1920–1946, Lincoln was highly influential: he improved methods for trapping and banding, developed record-keeping procedures, recruited banders, fostered international cooperation, and promoted banding as a tool for research and wildlife management.^[1][2] He proposed a means to estimate the continent-wide population size of a bird species, using reports from hunters and counting "returns" (birds killed that are wearing bands); this metric became known as the Lincoln index.^[1] He developed the flyway concept, a key idea in the management and regulation of hunting of migratory birds.^[1]

Lincoln joined the American Ornithologists' Union in 1910 and was elected a Fellow of the organization in 1934.^[1][4]

Later life and death

Lincoln died on 16 September 1960 in Washington, D.C. and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.^[1]

Legacy and recognition

Lincoln was elected a fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1934.^[5] He received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Colorado in 1956; in 1957, the Department of the Interior recognized him with its Distinguished Service Award.^[1]

Selected publications

• Lincoln, Frederick C. (April–June 1921). "The History and Purposes of Bird Banding". The Auk. 38 (2): 217–228. doi:10.2307/4073884. JSTOR 4073884. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
• Lincoln, Frederick C. (April 1921). Instructions for Bird Banding. Circular. Vol. 170. Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
• Lincoln, Frederick C.; Baldwin, Samuel Prentiss (November 1929). Manual for Bird Banders. Miscellaneous Publication. Vol. 58. Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
• Lincoln, Frederick C. (May 1930). Calculating Waterfowl Abundance on the Basis of Banding Returns. Circular. Vol. 118. Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
• Phillips, John C.; Lincoln, Frederick C. (1930). American Waterfowl. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Lincoln, Frederick C. (January 1935). The Waterfowl Flyways of North America. Circular. Vol. 342. Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.64010. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
• Lincoln, Frederick C. (October 1935). The Migration of North American Birds. Circular. Vol. 363. Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.64016. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
• Lincoln, Frederick C.; Fuertes, Louis Agassiz (1939). The Migration of American Birds. New York, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Company.
• Gabrielson, Ira N.; Lincoln, Frederick C. (1959). Birds of Alaska. Harrisburg, PA: The Stackpole Company.