In Memoriam

William A. Burnham (1947–2006)

Bill Burnham poses with two newly banded white Gyrfalcons in Greenland, moments before they were released.

Photo by Kurt K. Burnham

The world of raptor conservation lost a vital friend this past October when Bill Burnham passed away from brain cancer at the age of 59. To many of us who knew him, it is still difficult to accept the fact that he's gone.

I've never met anyone with more energy, drive, and determination than Bill Burnham. He was president of The Peregrine Fund for 20 years and, despite the ever-growing administrative duties of running the organization, he still took part in research projects, traveling each year to Greenland and other faraway places.

I was fortunate enough to go to Greenland twice with Bill and his son Kurt. No one worked harder than Bill on these expeditions. He was an inspiration to all of us. I'll never forget standing with raptor biologist Jim Enderson below a Peregrine Falcon eyrie in northern Greenland, peering through a spotting scope and talking to Bill via walkie-talkie, trying to help him locate the nest ledge so he could band the young. He had carried the climbing gear to the top of the lofty cliff from the other side and tied his rope to a boulder. Because it was a cold day, he wanted to get in and out quickly, to avoid stressing the young falcons. He made three lightning-fast rappels, using ascenders to climb back up each time before finding the correct ledge, then he banded the young and got out of there in a matter of minutes.

Bill grew up in Colorado, where he became interested in falconry as a 15-year-old. Amazingly, the first raptor he flew was a Golden Eagle. He began studying falcons in Greenland in the early 1970s and completed a master of science degree at Brigham Young University based on this work. Bill played a vital role in restoring the Peregrine Falcon to areas of North America from which it had been extirpated. He joined The Peregrine Fund in 1974 and set up the western falcon-breeding facility at Fort Collins, Colorado. He was elected to the Board of Directors of The Peregrine Fund in 1977 and was named as a Founding Member in 1982. While completing a Ph.D. at Colorado State University in 1984, he still found time to lead the construction of the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho.

Bill became president of The Peregrine Fund in 1986, a position he held until this past May, when his illness became too advanced. Under his leadership, the organization grew exponentially and expanded its focus far beyond North America and the single species it was established to save. Harpy Eagles, Teita Falcons, Orange-breasted Falcons, Asian vultures—more than 95 species in 55 countries were the focus of Peregrine Fund research and conservation efforts during his tenure.

The author of more than 90 scientific papers, Bill also wrote a memoir of his life with raptors—A Fascination with Falcons—and was co-editor, with Tom Cade, of Return of the Peregrine, a chronicle of the struggle to save the American Peregrine Falcon.

After being very near death earlier this year, Bill had surgery to give him temporary relief from some of the debilitating effects of his illness. Almost immediately, he was making plans, wanting to get back into action, like a human dynamo who could not be stopped. This past summer, he actually made one last trip to Greenland, a place that had meant so much to him for so many years. Although he was too ill to go into the field, he would wait eagerly for the researchers to get back so he could talk with them about what they had seen.

Bill Burnham will be greatly missed by all who knew him. He is survived by his wife, Pat, and his son, Kurt, who has followed in Bill's footsteps and is studying falcons in Greenland.

—Tim Gallagher

For permission to reprint all or part of this article, please contact Tim Gallagher, editor, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14850. Phone: (607) 254-2443. email: twg3@cornell.edu