Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot facts for kids
Louis Pierre Vieillot (born May 10, 1748, in Yvetot – died August 24, 1830, in Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a famous French bird scientist. He was one of the first people to study birds in a scientific way.
He wrote the first scientific descriptions and names for many birds. He found some of these birds himself in the West Indies and North America. He also named birds discovered by others in South America.
Vieillot was one of the first bird scientists to study how bird feathers change. He also liked to study live birds. Today, at least 77 groups of birds he named are still known by those names.
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Louis Pierre Vieillot's Life and Discoveries
Vieillot was born in a town called Yvetot in France. He worked for his family's business in Saint-Domingue, which is now Haiti. This island is part of Hispaniola.
During the time of the French Revolution, there were many rebellions in Haiti. Because of this, Vieillot moved to the United States. A famous scientist named Buffon suggested he collect information for a book. This book was called Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de l'Amérique Septentrionale. The first two parts were published in France starting in 1807.
Vieillot returned to France in 1798. He got a job at the Bulletin des Lois. This job gave him enough free time to keep studying nature. After another scientist, Jean Baptiste Audebert, passed away, Vieillot helped finish his "Oiseaux dorés" project in 1802. Vieillot's own book, Histoire naturelle des plus beaux oiseaux chanteurs de la zone torride, came out in 1806.
In 1816, Vieillot published Analyse d'une nouvelle Ornithologie Elémentaire. This book showed a new way to group and classify birds. He used this system in his work for the Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle (1816–19). In 1820, Vieillot continued a large project called the Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique. He also published Ornithologie française (1823–30).
Vieillot received a small payment from the government in his last year. However, he died without much money and was not very well known at the time.
Birds Named After Vieillot
Many birds are named after Vieillot. For example, there is the Lybius vieilloti, also known as the Vieillot's barbet. Another bird is the Saurothera vieilloti, which is the Puerto Rican lizard cuckoo.
Some people believe that the Leach's storm petrel should be called Vieillot's Storm-petrel. This is because he was the first to find a sample of this bird. He also described it in the New Dictionary of Natural History, published in 1817. He said he found it near the shores of Picardy, France, "staying on the Ocean."
Vieillot's Published Works
Here are some of the important books and works Vieillot published about birds:
- Histoire naturelle des plus beaux oiseaux chanteurs de la zone torride. Dufour, Paris 1805.
- Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de l'Amérique septentrionale. Desray, Paris 1807–1808.
- Analyse d'une nouvelle ornithologie élémentaire. d'Éterville, Paris 1816.
- Mémoire pour servir à l'histoire des oiseaux d'Europe. Turin 1816.
- Ornithologie. Lanoe, Paris 1818.
- Faune française ou Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière des animaux qui se trouvent en France. Le Vrault & Rapet, Paris, Strasbourg, Bruxelles, 1820–1830.
- La galerie des oiseaux du cabinet d'histoire naturelle du jardin du roi. Aillard & Constant-Chantpie, Paris 1822–1825.
- Ornithologie française ou Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière des oiseaux de France. Pelicier, Paris 1830.
See also
In Spanish: Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot para niños
