The ABA Claudia Wilds Award for Distinguished Service is an award given by the American Birding Association to a member who has given "long and useful service to the organization," either as a volunteer or as compensated staff, in recognition of the member's dedicated energy and years of service.
[1] One of five awards presented by the ABA for contributions to birding, the award is named in honor of Claudia Wilds (1931-1997), who made many contributions to ornithology and the ABA.
Wilds was author of an important bird finding guide to the mid-Atlantic states[2] and co-author of a handbook of the world's terns and skimmers, completed after her death.
[3] Wilds served on the board of the ABA, was an associate editor of Birding magazine, wrote articles for The Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding, and was a consultant in the preparation of the National Geographic Society's field guide.
[5] The Claudia Wilds Award was first bestowed on Larry Balch.