{{Short description|Naturalist for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory}} {{Infobox person/Wikidata |fetchwikidata=ALL |dateformat=mdy }}
'''Margaret Sordahl''' ({{date|1906|MDY}} – {{fdate|1995|MDY}}) was an ornithologist who worked for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. She collected two holotype specimens, ''Erythropygia coryphaeus abboti'' and ''Serinus albogularis sordahlae,'' the latter of which was named in her honour.
== Biography == Margaret Froiland was born in {{date|1906|MDY}} in Milan.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Beolens|first1=Bo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g_3QDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA522|title=The Eponym Dictionary of Birds|last2=Watkins|first2=Michael|last3=Grayson|first3=Michael|date=2020-03-19|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4729-8269-8|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Howes|first=Durward|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cz8LAQAAIAAJ&q=Margaret+Sordahl|title=American Women|date=1936|publisher=Richard Blank Publishing Company|language=en}}</ref> She married Lois Sordahl, who became Field Director for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Anonymous|date=2021-12-02|title=Margaret Sordahl, Collecting Flora and Fauna at a Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Station|url=https://siarchives.si.edu/blog/margaret-sordahl-collecting-flora-and-fauna-smithsonian-astrophysical-observatory-station|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Smithsonian Institution Archives|language=en}}</ref><ref>"Women the World Over." Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963) Sep 15 1929: 1. ProQuest. 20 Jan. 2022 .</ref> The couple met at St. Olaf College.<ref name=":4">"Science to Take Youthful Couple to African Wild: Husband Will Study Sun among the Hottentots." Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963) Jul 24 1929: 25. ProQuest. 20 Jan. 2022 .</ref>
thumb|left|Serinus albogularis sordahlae holotype specimen collected by Margaret Sordahl. Whilst the couple were stationed at the Smithsonian's Brukkaros Solar Observatory in Namibia, Sordahl collected many specimen's for the museum's natural science collections, including the holotype for a species of canary, ''Serinus albogularis sordahlae''. The species was subsequently named after her.<ref name=":0"/><ref name=":2">{{Cite Q|Q110795341}}</ref> As an eponym, she was honoured since she "maintained her interest in zoological collecting under rather trying and difficult circumstances".<ref>Plug, C. [https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA00382353_6551 "History of the Solar Radiation Expedition to Mount Brukkaros, South West Africa, 1926-1931."] ''South African Journal of Science'' 85.3 (1989): 174.</ref> She described the bird and its behaviour, stating that "these birds stay on the mountains during the whole year, living on top of the mountain during the hottest months of the year".<ref name=":2" />
Sordahl also collected another new species of robin, ''Erythropygia coryphaeus abboti,'' which was named after Charles G. Abbot, who was Director of the Smithsonian.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Deignan|first1=Herbert Girton|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k-1DJfdOONsC&q=Margaret+Sordahl|title=Type Specimens of Birds in the United States National Museum|last2=Museum|first2=United States National|date=1961|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|isbn=978-0-598-37195-9|language=en}}</ref> Twenty-seven species were collected by her - ten were new to the Smithsonian's collection and two were new to science. Other birds collected, included a starling, a shrike that "whistles like boys", a bulbul and other desert-dwelling species.<ref>"Washingtonian Finds Bird that Whistles Like Boys: Is among Rare Zoological Specimens Received by Smithsonian from Africa; Breed Frequents Temperate Climate of Mountain Sections." The Washington Post (1923-1954) Mar 03 1933: 11. ProQuest. 20 Jan. 2022 .</ref> Margaret's brother also accompanied the couple to Namibia.<ref name=":4" />
== Death and legacy == Margaret Sordahl died in 1995 in Friendswood.<ref name=":3"/> Her field notebook and other archival material relating to her time in Namibia, is held by the Smithsonian Institution Archives.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Margaret Sordahl Field Book, 1929-1931|url=https://music.si.edu/object/siris_arc_363629|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Smithsonian Music|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Sordahl|first=Margaret|date=1929–1931|title=Margaret Sordahl Field Book from the Division of Birds|url=https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/fbr_coll_ncdc504|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Smithsonian Institution Archives|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Archives|first=Smithsonian Institution|date=1917|title=Record Unit 7100 William Schaus Papers, 1917-1939|url=https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_217258|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Smithsonian Institution Archives|language=en}}</ref>
== References == {{Commons}} {{reflist}}
== External links ==
* Diary entries - [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/53143#page/17/mode/1up 1930-1932 Explorations and field work of the Smithsonian]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sordahl, Margaret}} Category:Created via preloaddraft Category:1906 births Category:1995 deaths Category:People from Milan Category:People from Friendswood, Texas Category:Women ornithologists Category:American ornithologists Category:St. Olaf College alumni Category:20th-century American zoologists Category:20th-century American women biologists