Robert William Nero, 1922–2023

Bob Nero holding adult female Great Gray Owl and young, southeastern Manitoba, May 24, 2007 (photo credit: Christian Artuso). Robert (Bob) William Nero, accomplished naturalist, ornithologist, ethologist, conservationist, archaeologist, writer, and poet, died January 23, 2023, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, at the age of 100. Bob’s passionate influence touched both professionals and nonprofessionals alike. He was an Elective Member (1955) and Fellow (1994) of the American Ornithological Society. Bob was born December 26, 1922, in Racine, Wisconsin, where he spent his early years in an orphanage. While living at the orphanage he found an arrowhead that sparked a lifelong interest in North American archeology. At the age of 11, he moved to the home of foster parents who lived on a farm near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There he roamed farm fields searching for artifacts and watching birds. Visits to the Milwaukee Public Museum encouraged him to pursue his interests in natural history. Ornithologist Owen J. Gromme, taxidermist Warren Dettman, and archeologist W.C. McKern became significant mentors. Bob began an undergraduate program in Milwaukee after completing high school, but left university in 1942 to enlist in the Army. He served in New Guinea and the Philippine Islands before being honorably discharged at the end of the war. He returned to university in Milwaukee, supported by the G.I. Bill. There he met his future wife, Ruth Hoenecke, whom he married in 1948, and who was his best friend, field assistant, and muse for more than six decades. Following completion of his undergraduate degree, Bob enrolled in graduate school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison (UW-Madison) in 1947. There he was forced to choose between his two major interests: zoology and anthropology. Writing to Ruth, Bob explained that his choice of zoology was based on better prospects of employment, perhaps in game management, and by the students and professors he had met. He wrote that “they usually hunted, wore field clothing, and had an outdoor look—just my style. Anthropology types... were more likely to wear coats and ties, even cuff links.” Bob completed his M.A. (1950) and Ph.D. (1955) under the supervision of John T. Emlen, Jr., and his graduate training was enriched by interactions with Joseph J. Hickey and Aldo Leopold. Bob’s doctoral research was on territorial and reproductive behavior of the Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus). The well-known avian ecologist Gordon Orians was a UW-Madison undergraduate while Bob was doing his doctoral research. He recalls that Bob and he often discussed Bob’s research. Orians went on to work on blackbird ecology and social behavior for his dissertation at the University of California, Berkeley. Their findings provided the basis for dozens of studies and theses that resulted in hundreds of papers dealing with the biology of Red-winged Blackbirds. Bob later summarized his work and that of others in Redwings (Smithsonian Press, 1984), an informative and accessible book. In July 1955, Bob and Ruth packed up their three (at that time) children and drove to Regina, Saskatchewan, where he had accepted the position of Assistant Director of the new Saskatchewan Museum of Natural History (now the Royal Saskatchewan Museum). Bob plunged into his new ­responsibilities with enthusiasm, meeting many of the province’s ornithologists, birders, and naturalists at the Annual Meeting of the Saskatchewan Natural History Society (SNHS, now Nature Saskatchewan) in October 1955. A decades-long association with SNHS ensued, with stints as Vice-President and President (1957–1961). Bob published more than 200 papers, notes, reviews, and poems in the SNHS journal, The Blue Jay, between 1956 and 2014, and served as Assistant Editor and Editor (1963–1976). In 1988 Bob was named a Fellow of the SNHS for his far-reaching contributions to the society. On behalf of the Museum and local naturalist groups, and as the eventual Chair of the Local Committee, Bob was the driving force behind an invitation to the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) to hold its 77th Stated Meeting at the Museum in Regina, August 25–30, 1959. This was the first time the AOU had met in western Canada. At the meeting, Bob presented results of his ongoing studies of blackbird behavior, which were now focused on Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus). Several years later, Bob provided support during arrangements for the 93rd Stated Meeting of the AOU in Winnipeg, in 1975. In 1960, Fred W. Lahrman and Ralph D. Carson, artists and preparators at the Museum, accompanied Bob on a 3-month trip to Lake Athabasca in extreme northwestern Saskatchewan. The primary goal was to study the behavior of the poorly known Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus), but the trip also sparked his interest in the little-known avifauna of northern Saskatchewan. Bob accepted a position at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus (now University of Regina) in 1961. Trips to Lake Athabasca in 1961 and 1962 were joined by colleagues in botany, mammalogy, and geology. In July 1962, Bob and botanist George W. Argus spent a week at Hasbala Lake in the extreme northeastern corner of the province, where Bob discovered a subarctic element in the unstudied avifauna of the region that was absent in the Lake Athabasca area. Expeditions to areas in northeastern Saskatchewan followed between 1963 and 1965. Although Bob ventured north again in 1963, fieldwork was conducted by university students who had met Bob through the SNHS. The 2 Special Publications of the SNHS that resulted from this work remain the definitive treatments of the avifauna of northern Saskatchewan. In 1965, Bob also employed university students to survey another poorly known avifauna in the Moose Mountain region of southeastern Saskatchewan, resulting in another SNHS Special Publication. Bob moved his family (now five children) to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1966 to assume the position of Chief of the Natural History Division of the new Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature. As a lead scientist, he was instrumental in developing the first of several galleries at the Museum. Bob joined the Manitoba Government in 1970, serving as Writer-Naturalist in the Conservation Extension Division (1970–1971), Wetlands Development Specialist (1971–1979), and Nongame Wildlife Specialist in the Wildlife Branch (1980–1991). In these roles, Bob brought information on Manitoba’s wild plants and animals to the scientific community and the general public through his accessible writings. In the late 1960s, Bob received news of a Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa) nest near The Pas, Manitoba. Intrigued, he ventured north to study a species then considered to be an irregular winter visitor to Manitoba. A decades-long study followed. Working with Herbert Copland and students and associates at the University of Manitoba, Bob showed that this owl was a rare but regular breeding bird in Manitoba. Bob secured grants from conservation organizations, businesses, and industry in support of this work. In recognition, he received the SNHS Conservation Award (1981) for studies of the Great Gray Owl and the SNHS Cliff Shaw Memorial Award (1984) for publication of a summary of his “untiring study of the Great Gray Owl in Manitoba.” The work produced an engaging book The Great Gray Owl – Phantom of the Boreal Forest (Smithsonian Press, 1980) lavishly illustrated by Robert R. Taylor, renowned wildlife photographer and longtime field companion. On Bob’s initiative, the first international gathering of owl researchers convened in Winnipeg in 1987, attended by 150 delegates from 10 countries and resulting in a published Proceedings. This would be followed by 5 “World Owl Symposia,” held in Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Portugal, and India. In 1984, Bob rescued an injured nestling Great Gray Owl. Although restored to health at the Manitoba Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, the bird could not be released. For the next 23 years, Bob and Lady Gray’l visited hundreds of schools and organizations, bringing his knowledge of owls, nature, and conservation to the public through entertaining and educational programs. He documented these ­experiences in another book, Lady Gray’l: An Owl with a Mission (Natural Heritage, 1994). Bob spearheaded the eventual selection of the Great Gray Owl as the official bird emblem for Manitoba in 1987. Bob promoted government programs and legislation focusing on endangered and threatened species, notably the protection of birds of prey in Saskatchewan in the 1960s. In Manitoba, he pushed for establishment of a monitoring program for the Cougar (Felis concolor) and a recovery program for urban Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) in Winnipeg and in Brandon. Bob was honored by many organizations. He was awarded Honorary Membership (1980) and the Ernest Thompson Seton Medal (1981) from the Manitoba Naturalists Society, the Annual Award (1983) from the Manitoba Chapter of the Wildlife Society, the Professional Award (1985) from the Central Mountain and Plains Section of the Wildlife Society, a Certificate of Merit (1985) from Environment Canada, and Honorary Membership (1987) from the Ottawa Field-Naturalist Club. For his many contributions to Canadian ornithology, Bob received the Doris Huestis Speirs Award (1995) from the Society of Canadian Ornithologists/Société des Ornithologistes du Canada. Retirement in 1991 did not slow Bob. He continued to assist the province and others as a Senior Volunteer Ecologist, a title that recognized years of dedicated service. He established and supported The Lady Gray’l Fund under the auspices of The Winnipeg Foundation in support of owl research and conservation around the world. Throughout his life, Bob encouraged and supported all those he met with interests in the natural world, perhaps as a reflection of his own experience as a teenager and student. This was especially true for young people with interests in birds, several of whom went on to careers in ornithology as a result of his influence. He paved the way for many others to develop a deeper connection with nature and its preservation. Bob’s interest in North American indigenous archaeology continued throughout his life. Within a year of his arrival in Saskatchewan, he became involved in the excavation of a site on the Souris River just south of Oxbow. His long-lasting interest in the Oxbow Culture extended to finds in the sand dunes of Lake Athabasca and in Manitoba. In 1992, Bob discovered bone fragments and artifacts south of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. He visited the area, which became known as Hacault Site, many times between 1992 and 1997, collecting Oxbow Culture artifacts that are now in the research collection of the Anthropology Department of the University of Winnipeg. Known to some was Bob’s interest in poetry. His first poems were published in 1947, but it was later that he turned to poetry in a major way. He published 4 books of poems between 1990 and 2005, and published dozens more in The Blue Jay and other natural history publications. Many of his poems offer sensitive insights into the natural world around him. Those who knew him recognized the gentle, caring, curious, and observant individual that was Bob Nero. Bob was predeceased by Ruth, his wife of 62 years, in 2010. He is survived by his partner Nenita Barrientos, daughters Tamera Brant and Lorrell Onosson, and sons Birch, Redwood, and Brook, along with nine grandchildren. We thank Glen A. Fox for comments on this memorial. Memorials Editor: Ted Anderson, [email protected]

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