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CREDITS

Publisher

Mitchell Waite

Computer book author, publisher, web designer, entrepreneur--is best known for writing numerous books on programming and computer technology, as well as innovative titles published by Waite Group Press in the areas of multimedia, fractals, biofeedback, nanotechnology, and virtual reality. Mr. Waite sold his publishing company to Simon and Schuster in 1996. For the last 6 years he has been focused on "naturetech" the merging of the digital world, books and birding. This web site, www.whatbird.com is an example of that. Most recently he has developed a collection of mobile applicatoins called "iBird" that have had a trememdous success on the Apple iPhone. You can learn about iBird at www.ibirdexplorer.com. His web site www.mitchwaite.com provides a glimpse into some of his accomplishments.

Authors and Ornithologists

John Riutta

John Riutta Three different universities and the bestowal of two graduate degrees were unable to dissuade John Riutta from pursuing the life of a freelance natural history and religion writer. Fortunately for him, he can support such a career through his business consulting by leveraging his MBA and over a decade of experience as the head of the binocular and spotting scope development group for an international optics firm. John’s writings are published widely but can always be found at his Born Again Bird Watcher (http://www.bornagainbirdwatcher.com) website.

David Lukas & Simone Whitecloud

David Lukas has been an avid birder for over 25 years, during which time he has worked on field research projects in Borneo, Peru, Central America, and every western state. As a professional naturalist he has led hundreds of birding tours, classes, and programs, many of these in the last 3 years with his partner Simone Whitecloud. David is also the author of Wild Birds of California, Watchable Birds of the Great Basin, and the newly revised Sierra Nevada Natural History, as well as many magazine articles. His weekly column Field Guide appears in the Los Angeles Times newspaper.

Simone Whitecloud, a native of New Orleans, moved to the Bay Area in 1996 to obtain a degree in biology from the University of San Francisco. As a freelance naturalist, Simone leads nature walks and teaches workshops for many organizations such as Point Reyes Field Seminars, Yosemite Association, and the National Park Service. She is also on the faculty at the College of Marin. Her love for birds begin with a childhood pet Mallard named Bob.

Gary Owen Dick

Born in Covington, Louisiana in 1956, Dr. Dick received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Southeastern Louisiana University and Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi. He currently works as an aquatic restorationist and naturalist at the Institute of Applied Sciences, University of North Texas.

Ashli Maruster

Known as “FlycatcherGirl,” Ashli Maruster graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.S. in Natural Resources, Wildlife Management. She has worked on various wildlife projects including Northern Cardinal and Acadian Flycatcher breeding studies, and Southwestern Willow Flycatcher surveys, nest searching, and monitoring. She currently works at the Wild Bird Center in Albuquerque, works as a volunteer bander for Rio Grande Bird Research Inc., and the Sandia Crest Rosy Finch project. Ashli has been certified as a “Bird Nerd,” by her loving fiancée, Nathan.

Jane Wright

Jane Wright is a writer and naturalist living with her husband and family on a beautiful farm along the Pilchuck river. She is not a classic birder but a genuine bird lover. She knows how to scratch the underside of a Brant goose's chin when you hand feed it, how warm a Spectacled Eider's belly is and how hard a trumpeter swan can bite your nose. She learned much of this when she worked at Northwest Wildfowl. The job was routine caretaking of a flock of over 600 ducks, geese and swans, but for Jane it was a labor of love. She continued her work with birds at the Washington Zoological Park and as a volunteer at Woodland park Zoo. She wears the scars from a seagull that she rescued as a badge of honor and likes nothing better than waking up to the sounds of birds on the farm.

John Schwarz

Now retired, John Schwarz, M.D. practiced ophthalmology for many years on Boston’s north shore. Originally from the NY area, he now divides his time between the Connecticut shore and the east coast of south Florida. A lifetime devotee to nature and the great outdoors, John is an accomplished scuba diver and has traveled to numerous tropical islands. He has explored many of the U.S. National Parks and has rafted the Colorado and Snake Rivers and the Middle Fork of the Salmon. The technical advances of the digital age finally attracted him to the world of bird photography which he now pursues with a passion. Although his photo collection also includes the Galapagos, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, John’s primary focus is to capture photographically as many species as possible in North America. His North American species photo list is currently over 500 and growing. His favorite, most productive locations have been SE Arizona including Madera Canyon, Big Bend National Park in west Texas, and Alaska including the Pribilof Islands. John is always happy to help find local species for visiting birders – in Florida from November through May, and in Connecticut the remaining part of the year. You can view his prolific work on his website www.birdspix.com.

Mary Beth Geisel

Mary Beth Geisel is a retired English teacher, a veterinary assistant, and a lifelong amateur naturalist. She earned her BA in English from Northern Kentucky University. Her published works include poetry, short stories, essays, and news pieces. Range: Ohio River Valley, extending southeast into Appalachian Mountains. Infrequent, unwilling vagrant outside that range. Nonmigratory. Semicolonial. Gregarious but wary. Enjoys dwelling among other species, especially canids. Known to frequent communal perches. Flight often erratic and labored, but capable of soaring. May be seen hovering over food.

Jason St Sauver

Originally from South Dakota (where i got my love of the outdoors and birds) I have been a New Yorker for almost 15 years now. Been out in Baiting Hollow on the North Fork of Long Islands on weekends for a few years - where I love to hike and birdwatch. Play tennis actively.

Crystal Adams

Crystal Adams graduated from William Woods University with a double major in Equestrian Science and Studio Art. She teaches and trains hunt seat and dressage in Connecticut and is currently working on her USDF Bronze Medal. Her interests in birds began as a child, when she had parakeets in Africa and canaries in England. Sadly, her 7 year old canary just passed away, and she is hoping her husband will find another for their anniversary. In the last year she has become a mother and loves it. In her rare spare time, she enjoys SCUBA diving, surfing, cooking and scrap booking.

Nataliya Kovalenko

Nataliya Kovalenko graduated from the University of Kiev-Mohyla Academy. She has over 10 years experience as a freelance writer and translator.

Programmers

Rick Stephens

Chief programmer of the WhatBird database and search engine since 2003, Rick Stephens is based in Pensacola, Florida, where he consults for business in the areas of web system design. Rick has designed and programmed numerous features of WhatBird including the architecture of the browse and wizard features and the powerful Web 2.0 SQL Content Managment System. He is an expert in C#, php, ASP, and Microsoft 's .NET platform.

Dan Johansson

Dan Johansson was born in Kalix, Sweden in 1983 and moved to the United States in 1987. He has a Bachelors degree in Animation from the Art Institute of Minnesota, and experience in graphic design and web design. Dan designed and programmed the XSLT for the WhatBird species account pages, the Laptop Buyer’s Guide pages and the World Fact’s pages, as well as the comparison pages.

Robert Levy

Robert Levy, original architect of the WhatBird search engine platform, is the lead developer of Microsoft's Surface Technology where any thing flat, such as a table, are LCD video screens with intelligence that interact with you and any objects you place on them. Before that he was a Program Manager in Microsoft's Mobile Devices Product Group, where he worked on Pocket PC and Smartphone SDKs for 3rd party developers. Robert programmed the original Pocket PC application that got WhatBird rolling, as well as the first version of the WhatBird web client. He majored in Software Engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Alexey Petuschak

Alexey was born in Kiev, Ukraine in 1984 and received his Bachelor's degree in Informational Technologies and a Master's degree in Project Management at the Kiev National University. Alexey is a software application developer in a wide variety of applied and system areas, proficient in C# development for the .NET platform, Win32 development using C++, Delphi, and reverse engineering. He enjoys all kinds of sports including cycle racing, skiing, snowboarding, wind-surfing, yacht, mountain climbing, and parachuting. Alexey developed the Winged Explorer toolbar for WhatBird.

Artists and Designers

Yury Anatolievich Lisyak

Born in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, in 1962. Mr. Lisyak received his B. S. Degree from Dnepropetrovsk National University. He currently works as a freelance artist, graphic designer and illustrator.

Irina Sergeevna Rud-Volga

Born in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, in 1983 Ms. Rud-Volga received her B.S. from Dnepropetrovsk National University. She currently is continuing her studies to obtain a M.S. degree.

Samira Viktorovna Belous

Born in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, in 1981 Ms. Belous received her B.S. from Dnepropetrovsk Art College. She currently is continuing her studies at Dnepropetrovsk National University to obtain a M.S. degree.

David Wenzel

David Wenzel has worked for a number of environmentally conscience organizations and currently creates freelance graphic designs, illustrations, photography, and fine art. He is a graduate of Kent State University and resides in Valley City, Ohio with his wife, Liz and children Brad and Brooke.

Dwight Kirkland

Born in Dallas, Texas, Dwight Kirkland has been an artist for as long as he can remember. He has had a lifelong passion for the arts. He enjoys all types of painting and drawing, and specializes in a unique, dreamlike, photo-realistic style of painting using the airbrush and paintbrush. Kirkland studied at the renowned Art Institute of Atlanta and his extensive travels in the United States has given him unique vision and perspective. His great love for wildlife and nature has been a focus for his talent. He has created projects, including Limited Edition prints, to raise money for endangered animals.

Bill Callis

Bill Callis is a California Native American who through his native roots learned at an early age to appreciate the wonders of nature. He obtained his education at the University of Illinois, and currently resides in Colorado. Bill is a freelance designer and illustrator specializing in animals and landscapes.

Ryan Durney

Ryan Durney is a professional freelance illustrator who specializes in nature and prehistoric animal art, as well as fantasy and children's books. Ryan obtained his degree from Columbus College of Art & Design in 1999.

Imran Khan, Juan Manual Costa, Santiago Cornejo, Kavita Jhunjhunwala

Photographers

Charlie Banks

Charlie Banks is a freelance Web designer and graphic artist living in New York's lower Hudson Valley. An amateur bird enthusiast since early childhood, his history with wildlife photography in particular actually stretches back to the medieval days of film, though he's become far more prolific in the years since he made the transition from darkroom to digital. Frequent photo junkets while birding around the Hudson Valley and Florida's Sanibel Island area have brought Charlie into contact with many memorable characters, some of which may be viewed at his WhatBird.com gallery. These and others, including additional photos of reptiles, mammals, and insects, may be found at Charlie's personal website, CharlieBanksOnline.com.

Keith Bauer

Keith Bauer currently resides in New Mexico. Photography has been an important part of his life since high school. His photo background includes portrait and wedding photography as well as nature photography. As an avid wildlife and nature photographer, Keith is always looking for new locations to visit to add to his extensive portfolio of images. He is an active judge at photo competitions in New Mexico as well as an instructor teaching workshops on avian photography at the world renowned Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge. He?s won many awards with his images including first place in the Avian category of the Nature Photographers Network end of year competition for an image he captured at Bosque. Keith?s background in computer science provided a perfect match between computing and the world of digital photography as it matured. Keith is a member of the North American Nature Photographers Association (NANPA) and the National Association of Photoshop Professional (NAPP). You can view Keith?s work at http://keithbauer.smugmug.com

Julianne Bockius

Julianne Bockius is a retired computer programmer. She lives in Delray Beach, FL, and has been concentrating on photography for the past four years. Her photographic interests are varied and include: digital art, children, portraiture, landscapes, flowers and wildlife, as well as birds. Her photographs have been displayed at the Palm Beach Photographic Museum and at the Cornell Museum of Fine Arts, where she was awarded the blue ribbon for photography. Samples of her photography are for sale at juliboc.dpcprints.com/.

Chris Bourg

A Spanish instructor at Regis University and Metro State College of Denver, Chris began birding in 2005. Traveling to wildlife refuges across the United States, in three years he has photographed 365 species in the continental U.S. His favorite destinations are Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico; Santa Ana and Boca Chica NWRs, Texas, the Washington Olympic Peninsula; Crescent Lake NWR, Nebraska; Cheyenne Bottoms NWR, Kansas, Cave Creek Canyon in Arizona, the Delray Beach wetlands and Everglades NWR, Florida. The Whatbird Online Fieldguide and the Whatbird ID forum have been invaluable in teaching him to ID the birds he photographs. See his photos at: www.whatbird.com/forums/photos/nieblas_gallery

Hilke Breder

Douglas Brown

Douglas Brown was born and raised in Los Angeles and has been photographing avian subjects since 2005, when he bought a DSLR and a 400mm lens and took them to Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico. He took roughly 1,000 photos on that cold winter day in 2005...and about 997 of them ended up in the trash can! Doug has come a long way since then and is currently a moderator on Arthur Morris’s BirdPhotographers.net web site in the Avian: Image Critique forum. Two of his photos reached the semifinals of the 2008 Shell International Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. You can view quite a few of Dougs photos on the WhatBird.com website, and also on the iPhone/ iPod Touch application iBird Explorer Plus. His work has been published in Western Birds Magazine, his bird photographs are utilized extensively in A Field Guide to the Plants and Animals of the Middle Rio Grande Bosque and he is a member of the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA). You can see more of Doug's work at his web site http://web.mac.com/dlb.

Bill Bryant

Bill Bryant has been a nature lover since childhood growing up in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. He has been photographing birds and other wildlife since college. Bill claims he never misses an opportunity to see something new, and he has traveled to more than 40 countries. Bill makes his living as a healthcare consultant and lobbyist, and he currently calls the rocky mountains near Boulder, Colorado home. You can view more of Bill’s photo’s at www.flickr.com/photos/bryant99.

Robert Burnett

Nirupa Chaudhar

Dennis Cheasebro

Steve Dimock

Steve Dimock has been a resident of Oregon since his Birth in 1963. He makes his home in Beaverton, Oregon but spends much of his time in Bandon where he and his wife own and operate the La Kris Inn. Steve has been an avid photographer and outdoorsman since he was a child. Both Steve and his wife Susan do photography of birds and other wildlife. Their images can be seen on www.dimockanddimockphoto.com.

Robert Dromgoole

A city born nature boy, I'd have to say my real education began around age 13, with the discovery of the New England Transcendentalist movement. They quickly became my mentors and guided me on to the likes of Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold, Tom Brown Jr., Frost, Muir, Snyder, and on and on... At 14 I hit the woods and never looked back. Rock climbing, white water canoeing, mountaineering and most especially, plain old wandering and reveling, in the tradition of my hero, John Muir... I've been face to face with a Mt. lion, slept with rattlesnakes, and shared salmon with a silver fox. All I can say is I feel blessed. Every step, every breath, a new creation. Wow! What a world!

May my photos speak to the heart. You can see Robert's photography at his site http://www.islandlightphoto.com/

Peter Dunn

E.J. Elithorpe

Brian Fairhurst

Brian has been an avid outdoorsman and nature buff since childhood. His interest in bird watching stems from an early fascination and appreciation for the raptors and other birds of prey. New to photography, this pursuit was a natural accompaniment to his other passions, which include travel, scuba diving, skydiving, mountaineering, and hiking. Brian lives in San Francisco with his wife, Sarah, who is fast becoming an expert in her own right on the local avifauna of the Bay Area. You can see more of Brian's work at www.picasaweb.google.com/brianfairhurst

Ann Fournier

Ann Fournier lives in southern Tennessee. She enjoys traveling the countryside, looking to capture anything and everything to share with others. She has found many of God's wonderful creations right in her own 'backyard'. Ann creates high quality, handmade photo greeting cards, photographs (framed or unframed), photo books, as well as 360 degree virtual tours. You can see her photography and postcards at http://www.scenicphotos4u.com

Tom Grossmam

Chris Knudson

Peter LaTourrette

Peter is a retired engineer whose love of the outdoors began in early childhood, segued into fly fishing and duck hunting in his teens, into birding as a young father, and finally into photographing wild birds. His bird photographs have appeared widely in various media. He currently serves as photo editor for Western Birds and as organizer for Bay Area Bird Photographers in Palo Alto.

Cindy Marple

Cindy lives in Arizona and works in the semiconductor industry. She has been interested in nature photography since childhood and enjoys landscape, wildlife and avian subjects. Her travels in pursuit of these subjects have taken her to some remote corners of the world. Cindy is a moderator in the Wildlife forum and Executive Editor at Naturescapes.net. You may view more of her photos at http://naturescapes.net/portfolios/portfolio.php?cat=10220

Dan McManus

Jason Means

Rick Mellor

Lois Miller

Michael C. Moore

Mike has been a professor of Biology for 25 years. He learned a love of the outdoors from his father who was an avid outdoorsman and fisherman. Mike started birding in Massachusetts when he was eleven. He worked at Manomet Bird Observatory in Massachusetts in college and then completed his PhD in Zoology at the University of Washington. He has published extensively in scientific journals, is an elected member of the AOU and has been a member of the ABA since its inception. He currently lives in Arizona, is a member of the Arizona Bird Committee and serves as Photo Editor for the website of the Arizona Field Ornithologists (www.azfo.org).

E. J. Peiker

E.J. Peiker was born in Germany and resides in Arizona. He is a Professional Nature Photographer and Manager for Intel Corporation. He began photographing the great outdoors at age 9 and today is recognized worldwide for his landscape, mammal, and bird photographs. He is widely known for his huge library of waterfowl photographs. He is published regularly in books, magazines, and online. E.J. is cofounder of the online Nature photography magazine www.NaturePhotographers.net where his is the senior technical editor. His personal website, www.ejphoto.com, showcases thousands of his photographs.

Kent Read

Nick Saunders

John Schwarz

Larry Selman

Larry Selman has been making photos since he set up a dark room in the basement as a teenager. "Photographing birds is my passion. I try to capture them in their natural surroundings, as they go about their business of everyday living. This means I must study their habitat, migration patterns, and habits, and patiently wait while they go about foraging, storing food, building nests, or caring for their young. For me, photographing birds is especially challenging, because they spend so little time in one place. They are literally moving targets." Larry Selman resides in Santa Cruz, CA and Bisbee, AZ. You can view more of his work at MostlyBirds.com

Lloyd Spitalnik

Lloyd is an accomplished photographer. His work has appeared in such publications as Audubon, Natural History, Birder's World, Wildbird and Birding (ABA) magazines, the NY Times, NY Daily News, WWF Songbird calendars and various Audubon trail guides and newsletters to name a few.His work can be viewed at www.lloydspitalnikphotos.com
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David Speiser

David Speiser has been a birder and photographer for over 15 years, and in that time he has traveled all over the world seeing more than 4,000 species. He decided to stay closer to home when the first of his two daughters was born three years ago and concentrate on photography. His career as a management consultant, with fatherhood and being an avid birder and photographer keeps him busy . David’s images have been featured at the Central Park Zoo in New York City, the Royal Botanical Gardens of Ontario, in Audubon Magazine and many other publications. He serves on the Board of Directors of New York City Audubon and Save the Frogs! His work can be viewed at www.lilibirds.com.

James Spitznas

James Spitznas, an award-winning photographer from Purcellville, VA, has been taking pictures most of his life. Starting with a Brownie camera given to him by his grandmother, it was not long before James was borrowing his father’s Minolta SLR, and developing and enlarging photos in his father’s basement darkroom. As an adult, James has photographed wildlife, rural landscapes, dog events, and travels but he especially enjoys the challenge of getting close to a bird, and obtaining a capture that marries an interesting pose with “golden light” and a pleasing background. You may view more of James’ images at www.goldfeatherphoto.com.

Dr. Carl Sheely

Carl's a cardiac surgeon whose passion outside the operating room is birding and avian photography. He began birding in about the third grade. The photography came about naturally as a way to enhance his many birding trips, from the Tortugas to Gambell, California to PEI, and the Rio Grande to Churchill. His favorite photography destination...Alaska. There's no place like Nome! You can see Dr. Sheely's beautiful collection of nature photography at www.pbase.com/csheely.

Lauren Staley

Peter Stahl

Peter Stahl resides near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and has always enjoyed photography as a hobby. For the last 5 years,he has been concentrating on obtaining the best nature photos that he could, especially bird pictures. Several of Peter's photos are featured in a local gallery and others have been included in bird guides. Since work has been getting in the way of his passion for photography, he is retiring to travel more, get out in the field and chase his dreams. Many of his photo's can be viewed or purchased at www.pbase.com/decor.

James Stephens II

Bryan Stone

Bryan Stone M.D. was born in Birmingham, England, where he obtained his medical degree. He practiced Family Medicine in Waco, Texas for over 20 years until he retired in 1998. Since then he has learned a little photography, with a special interest in birds. You can see more of Bryan's work at his web site www.pbase.com/bertramm

Christopher Taylor

Christopher Taylor has been birding since he was old enough to remember. Often going on trips with his photographer father, Monte Taylor, to many remote places in Alaska and abroad. Although his interest in birding waned during his teenage years he recently became interested again but from a photography perspective. Having only picked up a camera a little over a year ago he's already snapped over 400 photo birds in the ABA area. He currently resides in Marina del Rey, CA just outside of Los Angeles. You can view more of Christopher's photos at kiwifoto.com.

Alasdair Turner

Matt VanWallence

Robert Van Wagner

Alan Vernon

Mitchell Waite

Jeff Wendorff

Jeff Wendorff is an avid outdoor and wildlife photographer whose work has been published widely ó from calendars and magazines to even cans of cat food in China! Jeff is the Associate Director of the Photographers Alliance Workshops and a popular international tour leader. Jeff has been professionally photographing all manners of wildlife and birds in particular for the past 10 years. Jeff lives on the west coast of Florida and has spent probably too many hours in the field honing his skills. Jeffís website is www.jeffwendorff.com.

Lisa Williams

Dorothy Yamamoto

Chris Zink

Audio Recordist

Martyn Stewart (Naturesound)

Born United Kingdom 1955, Martyn began his recording birds at the early age of 13 with a tape recorder. He steadily collected bird and animal sounds from all parts of the country and over a period of over 35 years has accumulated well over 50,000 recordings He has contributed his recordings to the London and Glasgow zoo exhibitions, BBC radio, NPR Radio, as well as conservation groups for bird sound reference tapes and compact disks. His extensive library of sounds at Naturesound.org includes bird calls of the endangered Hawaiian Crow to the incredible mimicry of the Lyrebirds of Australia.

SOURCES

A Field Guide to Western Birds: A Completely New Guide to Field Marks of All Species Found in North America West of the 100th Meridian and North of Mexico, Roger Tory Peterson, Copyright © 1990, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY ISBN 0-618-13218-X

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