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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Helen James

Research Zoologist and Curator of Birds
Department / Division
Vertebrate Zoology / Birds
Education
  • B.A., University of Arkansas
  • D.Phil., Oxford University
Research Interests

Systematics, morphology, and fossil record of birds; island biogeography and paleoecology; ecological effects of humans in island and marine systems

Publications
Journal Article
Dataset
Book Chapter
  • James, Helen F. 2017. "Getting under the skin: A call for specimen-based research on the internal anatomy of birds." In The Extended Specimen: Emerging Frontiers in Collections-Based Ornithological Research. Webster, Michael S., editor. 11–22. Boca Raton, FL: Studies in Avian Biology, no. 50. CRC Press.
  • Wiley, Anne E., James, Helen F., and Ostrom, Peggy H. 2017. "Emerging techniques and sampling strategies for museum-based stable isotope studies of avian ecology." In The Extended Specimen: Emerging Frontiers in Collections-Based Ornithological Research.. Webster, Michael S., editor. 89–109. Boca Raton, FL: Studies in Avian Biology, no. 50. CRC Press.
  • Olson, Storrs L. and James, Helen F. 2004. "Fossil birds from the Hawaiian Islands: evidence for wholesale extinction by man before western contact [reprint of Science 217:633-35]." In Foundations of Biogeography: Classic Papers with Commentaries. Lomolino, D., Sax, F., and Brown, J. H., editors. 1023–1025. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
  • James, Helen F. 2001. "Prehistoric extinctions and ecological changes on oceanic islands [condensed version of 1995 overview article in Ecological Studies]." In The Biodiversity Crisis: Losing What Counts. 90–94. New York: The New Press.
  • James, Helen F. 2001. "Introduction [to the systematics papers]." In Ecology, conservation and management of Hawaiian birds: a vanishing avifauna. Scott, M. J., Conant, S., and I, C. R. Van Riper,II, editors. 48–50. 22 in Studies in Avian Biology.
  • James, Helen F. 1998. "Prehistoric extinctions and ecological changes on oceanic islands [condensed version of 1995 overview article in Ecological Studies]." In Scientists on Biodiversity. 43–47. New York: American Museum of Natural History.
  • James, Helen F. and Olson, Storrs L. 1994. "Descriptions of thirty-two new species of birds from the Hawaiian Islands. Part II. Passeriformes [abridged version of 1991 Ornithological Monograph 46]." In A Natural History of the Hawaiian Islands: Selected Readings II. Kay, E. A., editor. 456–466. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
  • Olson, Storrs L. and James, Helen F. 1994. "Descriptions of thirty-two new species of birds from the Hawaiian Islands. Part I. Non-passeriformes [abridged version of 1991 Ornithological Monograph 45]." In A Natural History of the Hawaiian Islands: Selected Readings II. Kay, E. A., editor. 439–455. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
  • Olson, Storrs L. and James, Helen F. 1989. "Fragile outposts [about Hawaiian fossil birds]." In Lords of the Air. Page, Jake and Morton, Eugene S., editors. 110–115. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books.
  • James, Helen F. 1987. "A late Pleistocene avifauna from the island of Oahu, Hawaiian Islands." In L'Évolution des oiseaux d'après le témoignage des fossiles. Table Ronde internationale de CNRS, Lyon-Villeurbanne, 18-21 Sept. 1985. Documents des Laboratoires de Géologie de Lyon, no. 99. Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile, editor. 121–128. 99
  • Olson, Storrs L. and James, Helen F. 1984. "The role of Polynesians in the extinction of the avifauna of the Hawaiian Islands." In Quaternary extinctions: A prehistoric revolution. Martin, P. S. and Klein, R. G., editors. 768–780. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Book Review
  • James, Helen F. 2012. [Book review] "A Feather in the Cap of Science Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle." Bioscience, 62, (2), 206–207. https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2012.62.2.16.
  • James, Helen F. 2003. [Book review] "The lost world of the moa: prehistoric life of New Zealand." The Auk, 120, (3), 917–919.
  • James, Helen F. 1994. [Book review] "Handbook of avian anatomy: Nomina anatomica avium, second edition. Publications of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, no. 23, xiv 779 pages. J. J. Baumel, A. S. Breaxile, H. E. Evans & J. C. Van den Berge." Ibis, 136, 498–499.
Book