Black Ducks and Little Canadas going to Roost

Hans Albert Hochbaum (February 9, 1911 – March 2, 1988) was an American-born naturalist, artist, and writer who spent most of his career in Manitoba, Canada. Born in Greeley, Colorado, he received his education in Boise, Idaho, and Washington, D.C., before studying fine arts and zoology at Cornell University under Arthur A. Allen, earning a B.Sc. in zoology. He worked for three years as a wildlife technician with the United States National Park Service before moving to Manitoba in 1938 to become the first director of the Delta Waterfowl Research Station at Delta Marsh on Lake Manitoba.

At Delta, Hochbaum directed a research program that involved 95 graduate students from 38 universities conducting M.Sc. and Ph.D. research projects. His work there led to a M.Sc. degree in Wildlife Management under Aldo Leopold at the University of Wisconsin in 1941. He held an Honorary Professorship at the University of Manitoba from 1958 to 1970 and received an honorary LL.D. degree from the university in 1962. In 1970, he took early retirement to focus on art and freelance writing, though he continued his research interests, particularly making 27 field trips to the Canadian Arctic to study tundra wolves and caribou.

Hochbaum was both a scientist and an artist, with skills that complemented his research work. He illustrated his own books with black-and-white sketches and watercolor paintings, and his artistic work extended beyond scientific illustration to include watercolor, egg tempera, and oil paintings. He first exhibited paintings in 1933 and later held twelve one-man shows. His artwork is held in private, corporate, and museum collections, including the Smithsonian in Washington and the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Ottawa. In 1970, one of his paintings was presented to Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to Manitoba.

His written works included three major books: "The Canvasback on a Prairie Marsh" (1944), which won both the Literary Award of the Wildlife Society and the Brewster Medal of the American Ornithologists Union in 1945; "Travels and Traditions of Waterfowl" (1955), which earned a second Literary Award from the Wildlife Society; and "To Ride the Wind" (1973). He also wrote scientific papers, popular articles on waterfowl and conservation topics, and prepared scripts for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television programs, earning their Wilderness Medal in 1970. Throughout his career, he received numerous honors including a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (1961), the Manitoba Golden Boy Award (1962), and membership in the Order of Canada (1979).

Hochbaum married Eleanor Joan Ward in 1939, and they had four children. He died of a heart attack at Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, on March 2, 1988, just five days after experiencing his first chest pain, having remained active in painting and writing until his final illness.