Bendire, Charles, 1836-1897

Honorary curator of the Department of Oology, Smithsonian Institution; author of Life Histories of North American Birds (1892-1895).

Ornithologist and U.S. Army officer. Full name: Charles Emil Bendire.

Charles Emil Bendire (1836-1897) was an Army surgeon and ornithologist. He was born on April 27, 1836, in Koenig im Odenwald, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt. He and his brother sailed for New York in 1853. He enlisted at the age of eighteen into the army, and served for five years as a private and corporal. After taking a year off, he returned in 1860 to the 4th Cavalry, serving as private, corporal, sergeant, and hospital steward, eventually rising to the rank of captain in 1873. After moving to Idaho between 1868 and 1871, he became interested in the natural sciences. He began the systematic study and collection of objects of natural history, and was a successful zoologist, focusing specifically on the identification of bird eggs. He served as honorary curator of the Department of Birds' Eggs, United States National Museum, from 1884 until his death. Bendire was the author of two volumes of Life Histories of North American Birds, published by the Smithsonian Institution. He died on February 4, 1897.