About: Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee

Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee (January 4, 1901 – April 24, 1984) was an American ornithologist. He was born in Rome, Italy to a Swiss aristocratic family. His family moved to the United States in 1913. He was the curator of ornithology at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia for nearly fifty years. He was particularly noted for his study of South American birds. He expanded the academy's collection of bird skins, taking part in collecting trips to Brazil, Thailand, Burma, southern Africa, the East Indies, and Guatemala. He wrote about the birds of South America, including the groundbreaking A Guide to the Birds of South America in 1970, and published a book on the birds of China just two weeks before his death.