Andrew Jackson Grayson

Andrew Jackson Grayson (1819–1869) was an American ornithologist and artist.

Grayson was the author of Birds of the Pacific Slope (1853-69), which he considered to be a completion of John James Audubon's Birds of America. Grayson was born August 20, 1819, in the northwest corner of Louisiana, on the Ouachita River, where his father had a cotton plantation.

Taxa named after Grayson

Two bird species and several other taxa have been named in honor of Grayson. They are mainly from the Revillagigedo Islands and other islands offshore Pacific Mexico. As with much island fauna, several are endangered or extinct:

Birds:

• Micrathene whitneyi graysoni - Socorro Elf Owl (probably extinct since c.1970)
• Mimus graysoni - Socorro Mockingbird (Critically endangered)
• Parula pitiayumi graysoni - Socorro Tropical Parula
• Zenaida graysoni - Socorro Dove (Extinct in the wild)

Other:

• Cambarus graysoni - a Cambaridae crayfish
• Ochrotrichia graysoni - a Hydroptilidae caddisfly
• Sylvilagus graysoni - Tres Marias Cottontail Rabbit (Endangered)

Research resources

• Guide to the Andrew Jackson Grayson Papers at The Bancroft Library