UN PANORAMA BREVE DE LA HISTORIA DE LA ORNITOLOGÍA MEXICANA

A glance on the history of Mexican ornithology. The sprouting of modern Mexican ornithology has been drawn up towards its beginning in the decade of the 1820, with the explorations by Humboldt, Bullock and Deppe. In the middle of the 19th century, ornithologists associated to the British Museum initiated a period of blossoming of the knowledge based on expeditions made by Sumichrast, Craveri, and Botteri, which were continued through investigations by researchers from Great Britain and United States. It is not until the 1860s that Montes de Oca, Villada, and Herrera, amongst others, began to produce local scientific knowledge. During most of the 20th century, the activity of ornithological surveying was carried out by professional collectors to obtain specimens that later were sold to the major museums and private collectors. Phillips (1960) attributed a greater development of the ornithology in Mexico from 1910 to 1960 to the growth of the road network and to the activity of the North American researchers and students. By 1970s, an important takeoff of ornithological investigation in local research institutions takes place, and international collaborations are strengthened. In this work, we analyze those initial contributions and assess the contribution of the Mexican and foreign scientists and aficionados in the knowledge of the birds of Mexico from the decade of 1960, based on scientific literature and the scientific collections.