Robert Sterling Ridgely (born 14 January 1946) is an American ornithologist, specializing in the neotropics.
He was long affiliated with the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, then Vice-President at the American Bird Conservancy until 2006.
[1] He served as President of the Rainforest Trust until 2021, then becoming President Emeritus, and is one of the founders of the conservation NGO Fundación de Conservación Jocotoco which, working with the Trust, owns and manages ten nature reserves in Ecuador.
Ridgely and fellow birder John Moore discovered a new antpitta during their trek through the Andes in Southern Ecuador near the Podocarpus National Park in November 1997.
He suspects that it went undetected for so long because either it has a very small range or it barks only during a short breeding season.