Ron Pittaway’s passion for birds began during the 1950s in Ottawa, where his mentor was the late Earl Godfrey, then Curator of Ornithology at the National Museum. Godfrey influenced Ron’s interest in identification, taxonomy, subspecies, morphs, molts and plumages.
Ron is a founding life member of OFO, a co-editor of Ontario Birds from 1991 to 2006, and technical editor of OFO News from 1994 to 2007. He has authored over 130 articles on birds. He was a member of the Ontario Bird Records Committee for 12 years between 1984 and 2003, including three years as Chair and one as Secretary.
Ron strongly promotes conservation, having served five years as the Ontario government’s representative on the Loggerhead Shrike National Recovery Team. His Birding Guide to Carden Alvar here, plays an important role in public awareness of the alvar.
Ron brings an extraordinary breadth of knowledge to his articles and posts to Ontbirds and ID-Frontiers. He inspired many people to take up birding during 10 seasons as a park naturalist in Algonquin Park and 23 years teaching conservation and resource management science at the Leslie M. Frost Natural Resources Centre near Minden.
Ron Pittaway (right) receiving the 2005 Distinguished Ornithologist Award from Bob Curry at the OFO Annual Convention at Point Pelee on 10 September 2005. Photo: Jean Iron