Helen G. Cruickshank Explained

Helen Cruickshank (Gere; February 20, 1902 – March 31, 1994) was an American nature writer and photographer of birds in their natural habitats in many areas of the world.^[1] ^[2]

In 1937, she married Allan D. Cruickshank, a lecturer, writer, and photographer for the Audubon Society. Husband and wife formed a highly effective partnership for photography and bird study. He took the black and white photos and she took the color slides on their bird study expeditions.

The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (formerly named the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Science) has a bird image collection named VIREO (Visual REsource For Ornithology) with over 180,000 thousand photographs, thousands of which were taken by the Cruickshanks.^[1]

Helen Cruickshank won the 1949 John Burroughs Medal for her 1948 book, Flight into Sunshine: Bird Experiences in Florida. Brevard County, Florida established the Helen and Allan Cruickshank Sanctuary, a 140-acre wildlife refuge near Rockledge, Florida. The Florida Ornithological Society sponsors the Helen G. and Allan D. Cruickshank Education Award.^[3]

Books

Book: Bird islands down East.

photographs by Allan D. Cruickshank

. New York. Macmillan Co.. 1941.
Book: Flight into sunshine, bird experiences in Florida. registration.

photographs by Allan D. Cruickshank

. New York. Macmillan Co.. 1948.
Book: Water birds. Garden City, N.Y.. N. Doubleday. 1955.
Book: Wonders of the bird world.

photographs by Allan D. Cruickshank

. New York. Dodd, Mead & Co.. 1956.
as editor: Book: John and William Bartram's America: selections from the writings of the Philadelphia naturalists. 1957.

edited with an introduction by Helen Gere Cruickshank; foreword by B. Bartram Cadbury; illustrated by Francis Lee Jacques

. ^[4]
with Allan D. Cruickshank: Book: 1001 questions answered about birds.

photographs by Allan D. Cruickshank; drawings by James Macdonald

. New York. Dodd, Mead & Co.. 1958. Book: 1976 Dover reprint. 9780486233154. Cruickshank. Allan D.. Cruickshank. Helen Gere. January 1976. Courier Corporation .
Book: Wonders of the reptile world.

illustrations by Lon Ellis

. New York. Dodd, Mead & Co.. 1959.
Book: Fun with birds in Florida. Florida Federation of Garden Clubs. 1960.
as editor: Book: Thoreau on birds.

Henry David Thoreau's writings on birds, compiled and with commentary by Helen Cruickshank; foreword by Roger Tory Peterson

. New York. McGraw-Hill. 1964.
Book: Paradise of birds: when spring comes to Texas. registration.

photographers by Allan D. Cruickshank

. New York. Dodd, Mead & Co.. 1968.
as editor: Book: Nesting season: the bird photographs of Frederick Kent Truslow. registration.

commentary by Helen G. Cruickshank; foreword by Olin Sewall Pettingill, Jr.; afterword by Mildred McCutcheon Truslow

. New York. Viking Press. 1979. ^[5]
as editor: Book: The birds of Brevard County, Florida (compilation of the sighting records by Allan Cruickshank in Brevard County). 1980. Orlando, Florida. Florida Press.

with added records (1974–1978) by Robert D. Barber

. ^[6]

Notes and References

News: The Bird Lady After 50 Years And More Than 30,000 Pictures, Photographer Helen Cruickshank Knows One Thing Very Well: There's Just Not Enough Time In One Lifespan To Complete Her Work. 30 March 1986. McLeod, Michael. The Orlando Sentinel. September 4, 2022.
News: Carson, Joan. Kitsap Sun. The Bird Lady: Women have taken their rightful place in the lore of bird watching. May 18, 1997.
Web site: Helen G. and Allan D. Cruickshank Education Award. The Florida Ornithological Society. September 4, 2022.
Dethier, V. G.. Review of John and William Bertram's America, ed. by Helen Gere Cruickshank. The Quarterly Review of Biology. 33. 3. September 1958. 217. 10.1086/402412.
News: Emerson, Ken. Brief review of Nesting season: the bird photographs of Frederick Kent Truslow, commentary by Helen G. Cruickshank. December 2, 1979. NY Times.
Hardy, John William. 69–70. Review of The birds of Brevard Country. Florida Field Naturalist. 9. 4. November 1981.