George Burritt Sennett

George Sennett was an industrialist and naturalist who studied birds in Texas. He first visited the state in 1877. This trip included stops at Galveston, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, Port Isabel, and was based out of Hidalgo. He returned to the state on collecting trips in 1878 and 1882, and paid collectors to find specimens through 1900. Overall, his collection, now held at the American Museum of Natural History, included over 1000 bird skins, 2400 eggs, as well as insects, mammals, reptiles and fish. He was a founding member of the American Ornithologists’ Union, and served as the chair of the Committee on the Protection of North American Birds.