Elizabeth Dickens, known as the "Bird Lady of Block Island", (2 December 187717 June 1963) was an American ornithologist.
Early life Dickens was born and lived her entire life on Block Island, Rhode Island. She was an eighth generation descendant of Nathaniel Dickens (1614-1692),The Hylbom Family Ancestry Project - Elizabeth Dickens: http://hylbom.com/family/notable-kin/notable-kin-ch-to-ga/dickens-elizabeth/ an early settler of Block Island who arrived from the mainland in 1679.Early Block Island Families by G. Andrews Moriarity, VI THE DICKENS FAMILY. New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol 86, April 1932, pg. 174-177 She was the last member of that family line to reside there, and she traveled only occasionally and then usually for reasons connected to her interest and expertise about birds.
Scientific contributions Dickens contributed to the annals of ornithology through her half-century of daily bird sightings on Block Island.Lord, Peter. "Not for Sale" . Providence Journal. These journals, which she began in 1912, were bequeathed by Dickens to the Audubon Society of Rhode Island and are housed at their offices in Smithfield, Rhode Island.Kim Gaffett, "Elizabeth Dickens: a local hero, 100 years ago", The Block Island Times, 25 Dec 2012
In addition to her journals, she also accumulated a taxidermy collection of 172 mounted specimens representing many of the island's bird species.RINHews: The newsletter of the Rhode Island Natural History Survey. (1995) 2 (1), 4-5. "The Elizabeth Dickens bird collection"Stacy Baker, "The Birds of Block Island", The New York Times, 9 Mar 2012 The Block Island School is today the home of the Elizabeth Dickens Bird Collection."Birding Takes Flight", Block Island: Close to Home, A World Away (published by the Block Island Tourism Council, 2009), p. 17
The Dickens-Lewis Farm Nature Preserve on Block Island, named for Elizabeth Dickens, preserves farming history on 200 acres of meadows that also provide habitat for grassland birds."Of birds and rolling grasslands on Block Island", The Nashua Telegraph, 16 Aug 1984 (accessed online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19840816&id=-6crAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9PwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4153,3476002 - 14 Aug 2013) Roland Clement, in a 1959 Yankee Magazine article about Elizabeth Dickens, coined the title “Bird Lady of Block Island” for Miss Dickens. Her biography was written by Herbert S. Whitman.Herbert S. Whitman, Elizabeth Dickens: The Bird Lady of Block Island (Cornwall, Connecticut: Still Pond Press) 1982.
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