The AOS Painton Award is given in odd-numbered years and consists of a cash prize of $1,500. It is presented to the author of an outstanding paper published in the two preceding years in Ornithological Applications (formerly The Condor). The award was established in 1961 through a bequest from physician and eminent amateur ornithologist Harry Painton; a history of the Painton Award, including winners from 1961 to 1993, was published in The Condor in 1994.

Previous Painton Award Winners

2023Natália Stefanini Da Silveira, Maurício Humberto Vancine, Alex E. Jahn, Marco Aurélio Pizo, & Thadeu Sobral-Souza. 2021. Future climate change will impact the size and location of breeding and wintering areas of migratory thrushes in South America. Ornithological Applications 123: 1–16
2021Walter Piper, Jason Grear, Brian Hoover, Elaina Lomery, & Linda Grenzer. 2020. Plunging floater survival causes cryptic population decline in the Common Loon. Condor 122: 1-10.
2019Jason Carlisle, Anna Chalfoun, Kurt Smith, & Jeffrey Beck. 2018. Nontarget effects on songbirds from habitat manipulation for Greater Sage-Grouse: Implications for the umbrella species concept. Condor 120: 439-455.
2017Katie Dugger et al. 2017. The effects of habitat, climate, and Barred Owls on long-term demography of Northern Spotted Owls. Condor 118: 57–116.
2015Jeffrey J. Buler and Deanna K. Dawson. 2014. Radar analysis of fall bird migration stopover sites in the northeastern U.S. Condor 116: 357-370.
2013Hope M. Draheim, Patricia Baird, and Susan M. Haig. 2012. Temporal analysis of mtDNA variation reveals decreased genetic diversity in least terns. Condor 114:145-154.
2011Mark F. Riegner. 2008. Parallel evolution of plumage pattern and coloration in birds: Implications for defining avian morphospace. Condor 110:599–614.
2009Leonard A. Freed, Rebecca L. Cann, M. Lee Goff, Wendy A. Kuntz, and Gustav R. Bodner. 2005. Increase in avian malaria at upper elevation in Hawai’i. Condor 107:753-764.
2007Joshua T. Ackerman, John M. Eadie, and Thomas G. Moore. 2006. Does life history predict risk-taking behavior of wintering dabbling ducks? Condor 108:530–546.
2005Sher L. Hendrickson, Robert Bleiweiss, Juan Carlos Matheus, Lilly Silva de Matheus, Norberto Luis Jácome, and Eduardo Pavez. 2003. Low genetic variability in the geographically widespread Andean Condor. Condor 105:1-12.
2003Charles R. Brown and Mary Bomberger Brown. 1999. Fitness Components Associated with Laying Date in the Cliff Swallow. Condor 101:230-245.
2001Nidia Arguelas and Patricia G. Parker. 2000. Seasonal migration and genetic population structure in house wrens. Condor 102:51-528.
1999Douglas A. Bell. 1996. Genetic differentiation, geographic variation and hybridization in gulls of the Laurus glaucescens-occidentalis complex. Condor 98:527-546.
1997 Jeffrey D. Parrish. 1997. Experimental evidence for intrinsic microhabitat preferences in the Black-Throated Green Warbler. Condor 97:935-943.
1995Robert B. Payne. 1993. Breeding dispersal in Indigo Buntings: circumstances and consequences for breeding success and population structure. Condor 95:1-24.
1993Morton, M.L. 1992. Effects of sex and birthdate on premigration biology, migration, scheduled return dates, and natal dispersal in the Mountain White-Crowned Sparrow. Condor 94: 117-133.
1991Brad C. Livezey. 1990. Evolutionary morphology of flightlessness in the Auckland Islands Teal. Condor 92:639-673.
1989John M. Marzluff and Russell P. Balda. 1988. Pairing patterns and fitness in a free-ranging population of Pinyon Jays: what do they reveal about mate choice? Condor 90:201-213.
1987Fernando Nottebohm. 1984. Birdsong as a model in which to study brain processes related to learning. Condor 86:227-236.
1985Stephen R. Sabo and Richard T. Holmes. 1983. Foraging niches and the structure of forest bird communities in contrasting montane habitats. Condor 85:121-138.
1983James F. Wittenberger. 1982. Factors affecting how male and female Bobolinks apportion parental investments. Condor 84:22-39.
1981John W. Fitzpatrick. 1980. Foraging behavior of Neotropical tyrant flycatchers. Condor 82:43-57.
1979Stephen I. Rothstein. 1975. An experimental and teleonomic investigation of avian brood parasitism. Condor 77:250-271.
1977A. Ar, C. V. Paganelli, R. B. Reeves, D. G. Greene, and H. Rahn. 1974. The avian egg: incubation time and water loss. Condor 76:147-152.
1975Robert B. Payne. 1973. The breeding season of a parasitic bird, the Brown-headed Cowbird, in central California. Condor 75:80-99.
1973Lowell Spring. 1971. A comparison of functional and morphological adaptations in the Common Murre (Uria aalge) and Thick-billed Murre (Uria lomvia). Condor 73:1-27.
1971Richard W. Warner. 1968. The role of introduced diseases in the extinction of the endemic Hawaiian avifauna. Condor 70:101-120.
1969Robert K. Selander. 1966. Sexual dimorphism and differential niche utilization in birds. Condor 68:113-151.
1967Richard T. Holmes. 1966. Breeding ecology and annual cycle adaptations of the Red-backed Sandpiper (Calidris alppina) in northern Alaska. Condor 68:3-46.
1965Victor Lewin. 1963. Reproduction and development of young in a population of California Quail. Condor 65:249-278.
1963William R. Dawson and Francis C. Evans. 1960. Relation of growth and development to temperature regulation in nestling Vesper Sparrows. Condor 62:329-340.
1961Robert A. Norris and Gordon L. Hight, Jr. 1957. Subspecific variation in winter populations of Savannah Sparrows: A study in field taxonomy. Condor 59:40-52.