Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science, Vol. 94 (2015) 29 FROM TABEAU TO SDOU: A BRIEF HISTORY OF ORNITHOLOGY IN SOUTH DAKOTA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO WORKS PUBLISHED IN THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOUTH DAKOTA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE David L. Swanson Department of Biology University of South Dakota Vermillion, SD 57069 Corresponding author email: david.swanson@usd.edu ABSTRACT Te history of ornithology in South Dakota can be divided into several general periods. Te initial natural history forays into what was to become South Da- kota, including the Lewis and Clark expedition, occurred during the frst half of the 1800s and form a period of exploration. During the latter half of the 1800s, sponsored government surveys traversed western North America, including the western Dakotas, while settlement predominated in the east, and ornithological eforts focused on a more complete catalogue of birds within particular regions. Eforts of a number of individual ornithologists during the late 1800s and frst half of the 1900s built upon these initial studies to provide more complete cata- logues of birds of particular regions within the state. It was also during this pe- riod that the frst comprehensive treatments of the statewide avifauna appeared. A seminal event in the ornithological history of South Dakota was the founding of the South Dakota Ornithologists’ Union in 1949 and this organization still strongly supports bird research in the state. Ornithology content published in the Proceedings generally refects these historical trends. Eforts to more precisely defne the status and distribution of birds in the state remain an important focus of ornithology, and such content occurs in the Proceedings from its inception until today. More recent years have witnessed the diversifcation of bird studies in South Dakota and this is also refected in publication trends in the Proceedings. Early ornithology content published in the Proceedings focused on history, natu- ral history notes, and poultry science. Major foci of ornithology content in the Proceedings from 1960-1989 included contaminant efects, habitat associations and ecology. Habitat associations and ecology remained prominent ornithology topics in the Proceedings during the last quarter-century, but conservation and management, climate change and physiology have increased in coverage. Keywords Ornithology, history, South Dakota, Audubon, Maximilian of Wied, South Dakota Ornithologists’ Union, South Dakota Academy of Science