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. All award nominees are expected to have a high standard of ethical and social behavior that is strongly aligned with the AOS Code of Conduct & Ethics.
Previous Painton Award Winners
| 2023 | Natália 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 |
| 2021 | Walter 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. |
| 2019 | Jason 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. |
| 2017 | Katie Dugger et al. 2017. The effects of habitat, climate, and Barred Owls on long-term demography of Northern Spotted Owls. Condor 118: 57–116. |
| 2015 | Jeffrey J. Buler and Deanna K. Dawson. 2014. Radar analysis of fall bird migration stopover sites in the northeastern U.S. Condor 116: 357-370. |
| 2013 | Hope 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. |
| 2011 | Mark F. Riegner. 2008. Parallel evolution of plumage pattern and coloration in birds: Implications for defining avian morphospace. Condor 110:599–614. |
| 2009 | Leonard 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. |
| 2007 | Joshua 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. |
| 2005 | Sher 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. |
| 2003 | Charles R. Brown and Mary Bomberger Brown. 1999. Fitness Components Associated with Laying Date in the Cliff Swallow. Condor 101:230-245. |
| 2001 | Nidia Arguelas and Patricia G. Parker. 2000. Seasonal migration and genetic population structure in house wrens. Condor 102:51-528. |
| 1999 | Douglas 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. |
| 1995 | Robert B. Payne. 1993. Breeding dispersal in Indigo Buntings: circumstances and consequences for breeding success and population structure. Condor 95:1-24. |
| 1993 | Morton, 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. |
| 1991 | Brad C. Livezey. 1990. Evolutionary morphology of flightlessness in the Auckland Islands Teal. Condor 92:639-673. |
| 1989 | John 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. |
| 1987 | Fernando Nottebohm. 1984. Birdsong as a model in which to study brain processes related to learning. Condor 86:227-236. |
| 1985 | Stephen R. Sabo and Richard T. Holmes. 1983. Foraging niches and the structure of forest bird communities in contrasting montane habitats. Condor 85:121-138. |
| 1983 | James F. Wittenberger. 1982. Factors affecting how male and female Bobolinks apportion parental investments. Condor 84:22-39. |
| 1981 | John W. Fitzpatrick. 1980. Foraging behavior of Neotropical tyrant flycatchers. Condor 82:43-57. |
| 1979 | Stephen I. Rothstein. 1975. An experimental and teleonomic investigation of avian brood parasitism. Condor 77:250-271. |
| 1977 | A. 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. |
| 1975 | Robert B. Payne. 1973. The breeding season of a parasitic bird, the Brown-headed Cowbird, in central California. Condor 75:80-99. |
| 1973 | Lowell 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. |
| 1971 | Richard W. Warner. 1968. The role of introduced diseases in the extinction of the endemic Hawaiian avifauna. Condor 70:101-120. |
| 1969 | Robert K. Selander. 1966. Sexual dimorphism and differential niche utilization in birds. Condor 68:113-151. |
| 1967 | Richard T. Holmes. 1966. Breeding ecology and annual cycle adaptations of the Red-backed Sandpiper (Calidris alppina) in northern Alaska. Condor 68:3-46. |
| 1965 | Victor Lewin. 1963. Reproduction and development of young in a population of California Quail. Condor 65:249-278. |
| 1963 | William R. Dawson and Francis C. Evans. 1960. Relation of growth and development to temperature regulation in nestling Vesper Sparrows. Condor 62:329-340. |
| 1961 | Robert 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. |