To appreciate the origins of the KBC requires understanding some of the earlier organized bird groups in Cleveland.   Dr. Jared Potter Kirtland (1793-1877), originally from Connecticut but who had been living in both Poland (OH) and then Cincinnati, arrived in what is now Lakewood, OH in 1840 and lived there the rest of his life.  While Kirtland was trained as a physician, he was extremely interested and versed in the natural sciences, including ornithology.  Around 1837 he began interacting with a group of young men in Cleveland who called themselves the “Arkites”, who were interested in local natural history.  Out of the members of this group was organized in 1845 the Cleveland Academy of Natural Sciences of which Kirtland was the first and only president.  The members reorganized the academy as the Kirtland Society of Natural Sciences in 1869.  This group, which became somewhat inactive towards the end of the century, merged with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in 1927.  The CMNH also has its origins with the “Arkites” and was established in 1920. 

In 1940 The Kirtland Society was organized within the CMNH for the members to promote amateur research and the first active division out of this was the Division of Ornithology of the Kirtland Society, which shortened its name to the Kirtland Bird Club.  The first president was Merit B. Skaggs.  The KBC placed emphasis on fieldwork and that tradition continues uninterrupted to the present.  For example, the KBC has conducted the Cleveland Christmas Bird Count since 1940 and has provided numerous records of seasonal observations on birds for the Cleveland Bird Calendar (CBC).  In 1954, for an apparent number of reasons including the proposed move of the CMNH from its downtown Euclid Avenue to University Circle location, the KBC formally requested a discontinuation of museum sponsorship.  The Kirtland Society itself eventually dissolved entirely.   

As an aside, for those of you who might be asking yourself, the Kirtland’s Warbler (Dendroica kirtlandii) was indeed named in honor of Jared Kirtland by Spencer Fullerton Baird, then Assistant Secretary [director] of the Smithsonian.  Kirtland’s son-in-law Charles Pease collected [shot] the bird on Kirtland’s farm in Lakewood (then Rockport) in 1851 and gave it to Kirtland, who subsequently gave the skin to Baird on one of his visits through Ohio.  Kirtland also prepared the first list of Ohio birds totaling 222 species (of which two-thirds were new records).  Kirtland is buried in Lake View Cemetery. 

Source: Article written by Dwight Chasar

Other Jared Potter Kirtland Links:

Jared Kirtland

Kirtland's Warbler

Kirtland's Snake

Dr. Kirtland's Warbler

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Home in Lakewood

Kirtland's Phrenology Reading

Baird and Kirtland's Fish Study

 

Page last updated on Tuesday March 10, 2009