The J. W. Tucker Award

Based on the Newsletter article by Mary Stevens and Bill Turcotte

Mr. J. W. Tucker was a friend and supporter of Miss Fannye Cook, and “The Mississippi Association for the Conservation of Wildlife,” organized in 1926-27 for the sole purpose of securing passage of laws establishing a state agency for the conservation and management of wildlife resources. He was an early conservationist with a keen interest in nature, birds, rocks and minerals. He owned a camp at Eagle Lake. Mr. Tucker was an engraver, printer and owner of the Tucker Printing Company in Jackson, which was located on North State Street across from the Old Capitol. The building still bears the Tucker Printing Company name etched in stone. He printed, on credit, the first game and fish licenses sold by The Mississippi Game and Fish Commission. The Commission’s offices were moved to the second floor of the Tucker Printing Company building soon after the Commission was created by the Legislature. Mr. Tucker presented the medallion to MOS in 1956. Miss Fannye Cook, the first Director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, wrote: “Mr. Tucker Honors Society: Mr. J. W. Tucker of Jackson, who on many occasions has encouraged efforts in conservation and bird study, has given the Society a copper engraving of Audubon’s Falcon to be presented at the annual convention to the member judged as doing the most outstanding work.” (Source, MOS Newsletter, v.2, no.1, 1956, p.4).

Tucker made the plated copper medallion, engraved with Audubon’s Falcon and set on it the polished piece of jasper stone from Mississippi.

Past Recipients of the J. W. Tucker Award

1957 Mrs. William G. Wills, Jr., Jackson, for exhibiting the most enthusiasm and progress for a beginning birder.

1958 William H. Turcotte, Richland, for Wild Turkey film and movies of coastal birds.

1961 Sterling G. Clawson, Gulf Coast & Lovett E. Williams, Gulf Coast, joint award for adding 12 or more new species to the State Bird List, and reporting them in the MOS Newsletter and the Auk.

1965 In memory of Fannye A. Cook, presented to her sisters, Mrs. L. H. Hamal and Lucy E. Hastings.

1966 John H. Phares, Jackson, for service as MOS President, and for bringing the U.S. Forest Service to alter its policy on removing trees used by Red-cockaded Woodpeckers.

1968 Earl Cunningham, manager, Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge, for his outstanding Wood Duck nest box study program.

1971 W. Marvin Davis, Oxford, for outstanding field work in finding, and for his documenting in the Auk, the Black-legged Kittiwake and Little Gull.

1972 Larry Gates, Hattiesburg, for outstanding field work, new species added to state list and work to update the MOS Checklist.

1973 B. E. Gandy, Brandon,  Dir. of the Miss. Museum of Natural Science, for his work on plans for a new building and for 12 years service as secretary/treasurer of MOS.

1974 William H. Turcotte, Richland, for 20 years service as editor of MOS Newsletter.

1975 William Quisenberry, Clinton, for developing the Natural Heritage Program and acquiring Pascagoula R. Wildlife Management Area.

1984 Margaret Copeland, Starkville, for building bluebird houses and locating House Finches.

1986 William H. Turcotte, Richland, for making bird song recordings of 115 species of Mississippi birds.

1987 Judith A. Toups, Gulfport & Jerome A. Jackson, Starkville, joint award for a book on Mississippi Coast birds.

1990 Malcolm F. Hodges, Jr. for outstanding field studies and publishing on birds in The Mississippi Kite

1993 Terence Schiefer, Starkville, for listing the most birds seen in one year in MS, for finding a new species for Miss. and North America, the Citrine Wagtail and for work on MOS Checklist.

1996 Margaret Copeland, Starkville, for work on breeding census of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in Mississippi.

1997 Mary P. Stevens, Jackson, for work on developing a program of Bald Eagle nest monitoring and the Partners in Flight International Migratory Bird Day programs.

2011 Gene and Shannon Knight for diligent service to MOS since 1984 including Shannon’s service as an officer 1996-2002, as co-editors of the Newsletter for more than a decade (and continuing through 2017), Gene’s service on the MBRC since 1996 and chairmanship from 2008, as well as contributing first state records of Lazuli Bunting, Prairie Falcon, Long-tailed Jaeger, and Rock Wren.

2013 Bob and Martha Sargent for innumerable contributions to the study and appreciation of hummingbirds, most notably the Hummer Bird Study Group and contributions to the understanding of winter hummingbird abundance and diversity in Mississippi.

2017 Ned Boyajian for maintaining and updating an Annotated Checklist of the Six Coastal Counties, compiling the Southern Hancock Christmas Bird Count, serving on the Mississippi Bird Records Committee and as eBird reviewer for Mississippi.

2021 Jason Hoeksema for his contributions to birding and conservation as educator, eBird reviewer, member of the Mississippi Bird Records Committee, co-founder of Delta Wind Birds, and for his dedication to building a supportive birding community in Mississippi.