José Castulo Zeledón

Who was José Castulo Zeledón?

José Castulo Zeledón was a Costa Rican ornithologist.

He was the son of Don Manuel Zeledón, governor of the district of San José. José became interested in birds at an early age, and learnt about ornithology from the German naturalist and physician Alexander von Frantzius, when he was employed at his pharmacy in San José. Zeledon started collecting birds locally, the specimens being sent to Jean Cabanis at the Berlin Museum.

In 1868 Frantzius returned to Germany. En route, he took Zeledon to Washington, where Zeledon met Spencer Fullerton Baird and became an assistant at the Smithsonian Institution. It was here that he began a lifelong friendship with Robert Ridgway. In 1872 Zeledon returned to Costa Rica as zoologist on an expedition led by William More Gabb. During this expedition Zeledon made the first collection of birds in Talamanca.

Zeledon took over the pharmacy set up by Frantzius, and this eventually made him a wealthy man. He continued to collect birds when time allowed, donating his collection to the Costa Rican National Museum when it was founded, mainly due to his own efforts.