John Cassin

Who was John Cassin?

John Cassin was an American ornithologist.

Cassin was born in Upper Providence Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania near Philadelphia on September 6, 1813. Though his ancestors were Quakers, several had distinguished themselves in military and naval service.

A careful and talented taxonomist, Cassin named 198 birds not described in the works of his predecessors Alexander Wilson and John James Audubon. He is commemorated himself in the names of a number of birds from western North America, including the Cassin's Auklet, Cassin's Kingbird, Cassin's Vireo, Cassin's Sparrow, and Cassin's Finch. The periodic cicada Magicicada cassini is also named for him.

Cassin drew, engraved, and colored many of the illustrations published in the Pacific Railroad Surveys.

Named curator of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences in 1842, Cassin described many new bird species and revised a number of families in the Academy's publications.