Robert porter allen biography

A deep desire for adventure had taken hold. Recognizing his potential, his biology teacher encouraged Allen to join the Junior Audubon Club. Through this organization, he was to meet notable ornithologists who would eventually direct and shape his career. He enrolled in Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, the alma mater of his father and grandfather, and eventually transferred to Cornell University.

However, academia was tedious for a young man who had spent his youth hiking the mountain trails of the Susquehanna, canoeing river rapids, and tracking black bears. Play Live Radio.

Robert porter allen biography: Robert Porter Allen was an

Next Up:. All Streams. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email. Yesterday's Florida Keys. That man is Robert Porter Allen.

Robert porter allen biography: Bob Allen was born in South

Credit Everglades National Park. Most of the locations we visited were on our agenda. However, one particular serendipitous event led to an unbelievable experience. While traveling through Florida just south of Tallahassee, we noticed Wakulla Springs State Park, a hot spot for birding, was only a few miles away. We made a slight detour and upon arrival, checked into the historic Wakulla Spring Lodge for a two-night stay.

That afternoon on the birding boat tour, I met Betty and Lou Kellenberger, wildlife photographers and whooping crane devotees.

Robert porter allen biography: Robert Porter Allen was

They told me about the Whooping Crane Festival coming up that weekend at St. We added two more nights to our stay so I could attend. About a week before we arrived in Wisconsin, I emailed Joan and asked if we could watch one of the training exercises. Richard left to revive up the ultralight while Barb prepared to released the chicks. Watching those gangly young whoopers rush out of their pen and take to the air was one of the best moments of my life.

I had to choke back tears. The book was released on September 16, It was April 17, in the early hours of a muggy Texas morning on the Gulf Coast. The sun at last burned away the thick fog that had settled over Blackjack Peninsula. Allen discovered that flamingos unlike other birds need over three hundred individuals to successfully carry out the mating ritual.

It is reasonable to believe that the original number of flamingos was around 95, in A. In Allen estimated the population total to be 21, 80 percent less than their original number.

Robert porter allen biography: Allen was the researcher from the

Gunshots, planes flying overhead, hurricanes, flooding, damming and diking bodies of water all caused the population to decline. Allen's studies show that the same number of flamingos produced each year is equal to the number that dies off. Allen took interest in the roseate spoonbill because he felt that the U. Allen wanted to secure federal funding for the roseate spoonbill, and wanted Florida Bay to be included in the Everglades National Park.

Roseate spoonbills were not seen from to due to over hunting; they were very close to extinct. When Allen began studying the roseate spoonbill there were only eight nesting locations in the U. Allen found that plumage hunting depleted the populations of roseate spoonbills, flamingos, and whooping cranes. Allen deducted that over hunting not only reduced the overall population of these birds, but it made them vulnerable to a whole new host of things.

Once the populations were decreased the birds could no longer defend themselves from certain predators, or reproduce properly. Allen had great success growing the population of whooping cranes. The population was at 15 when Allen began his work inand the population is around in Allen gained national popularity and news coverage when he spent eight years looking for the last remain nesting site for whooping cranes.

Allen concluded that overdevelopment; habitat loss and unregulated hunting were the main causes for low numbers of whooping cranes, roseate spoonbills, and flamingos. Allen changed the ways Americans thought about wildlife through education programs. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk.