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Elizabeth Dickens, known as the "Bird Lady of Block Island", (born 2 Dec 1877, died 17 Jun 1963)[1] was an American ornithologist.
Dickens was born and lived her entire life on Block Island, Rhode Island. She was an eighth generation descendant of Nathaniel Dickens (1614-1692),[2] an early settler of Block Island who arrived from the mainland in 1679.[3] She was the last member of that family line to reside there, and she traveled only occasionally and then usually for reasons connected to her interest and expertise about birds.[4]
Dickens contributed to the annals of ornithology through her half-century of daily bird sightings on Block Island.[5][6] These journals, which she began in 1912, were bequeathed by Dickens to the Audubon Society of Rhode Island and are housed at their offices in Smithfield, Rhode Island.[7]
In addition to her journals, she also accumulated a taxidermy collection of 172 mounted specimens representing many of the island's bird species.[8][9] The Block Island School is today the home of the Elizabeth Dickens Bird Collection.[10][11]
The Dickens-Lewis Farm Nature Preserve on Block Island, named for Elizabeth Dickens, preserves farming history on 200 acres of meadows that also provide habitat for grassland birds.[12] Roland Clement, in a 1959 Yankee Magazine article about Elizabeth Dickens, coined the title “Bird Lady of Block Island” for Miss Dickens. Her biography was written by Herbert S. Whitman.[13]
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