author
George Miksch Sutton
1898–1982
An adventurous American ornithologist and bird artist, he brought science and art together in books and fieldwork that inspired generations of bird lovers. He became especially well known for major discoveries in the Arctic and for vivid paintings drawn from a lifetime of close observation.
1 Audiobook
An Introduction to the Birds of Pennsylvania
by George Miksch Sutton
About the author
Born in Bethany, Nebraska, in 1898, George Miksch Sutton grew into one of America's best-known ornithologists as well as a respected bird painter and writer. Reliable sources describe him as both a scientist and an artist, and note that he published technical research alongside popular books illustrated with his own work.
His career included important field expeditions and a long connection to Oklahoma. He is especially remembered for discovering the nesting grounds of the Blue Goose at Hudson Bay in 1930, and for later serving as a research professor of zoology at the University of Oklahoma and as an ornithologist for the Oklahoma Biological Survey.
Sutton died in Norman, Oklahoma, in 1982. His reputation has lasted because he made birds vivid for both specialists and general readers, combining careful observation, teaching, writing, and painting in a way that felt personal as well as scholarly.