Restrictions on Access
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Preferred Citation
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Processing Information
Biography/History
Scope and Content
Organization and Arrangement
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Nicholas E. Collias papers
Creator:
Collias, Nicholas E. (Nicholas Elias)
Identifier/Call Number: Biomed.0432
Physical Description:
13.5 Linear Feet
(9 cartons)
Date (inclusive): 1933-2008
Abstract: Nicholas E. Collias was an internationally renowned zoology educator and ornithologist. Collias worked on his long term research
program concerning the development of social behavior in birds with his wife, Elsie C. Collias. The collection consists of
materials related to his academic work as a student and professor, field studies, and involvement in professional organizations.
Materials include field notes, research article manuscripts, correspondence, thesis drafts, teaching files, publications and
records from scientific organizations.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Nicholas E. Collias papers (Biomed Manuscript Collection Number 432). UCLA Library Special Collections,
History and Special Collections for the Sciences, Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated from the creator's daughter, Karen Collias Whilden, in 2010.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
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existing description of our materials that contains language
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Processing Information
Processed by Kelly Besser with assistance from Megan Hahn Fraser. Most materials are in their original folders and retain
their original folder titles and organization.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating
existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit
feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form
located on our website:
Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections.
Biography/History
Nicholas Elias Collias, an internationally renowned zoology educator and ornithologist, was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois
on July 29, 1914.
After the completion of his secondary education at private and public high schools in Illinois, Collias entered the University
of Chicago, majored in zoology and earned his B.S. degree in 1937. Following graduation, he was hired as a research technician
by Professor W.C. Allee, an ecologist on the faculty, to study pecking order in chickens. This job led to several fellowships
and inspired his doctoral dissertation. Collias earned his Ph.D. degree in zoology in 1942.
Soon after the completion of his doctoral degree, Collias was drafted into the U.S. Army, and served three and a half years.
He finished his Army career as a medical research physiologist at the Aeromedical Research Station at Wright Field in Dayton,
Ohio.
After his discharge from the Army, he became a zoology instructor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison where he began his
long term research program on the social behavior of birds. While at Wisconsin, Collias met Elsie Cole who became his life
and scientific research partner. Most professional colleagues and acquaintances knew them as Nick and Elsie. They married
on December 21, 1948.
Their research dealt with bird behavior including social hierarchies such as pecking order, vocal communications and external
constructions, notably nests. Much of their field research and experiments focused on weaverbirds and junglefowl. Nick and
Elsie published numerous research articles, co-authored two books on nest building and were founding members of the Animal
Behavior Society.
In 1953 they joined the biology faculty at Illinois College in Jacksonville where they remained until 1958 when Nick accepted
a position with UCLA's Department of Zoology. Collias worked at UCLA for 27 years until his retirement in 1985 as professor
emeritus.
Nick and Elsie received the Elliott Coues Award for bird behavior research from the American Ornithologists Union in 1980
and the Margaret Morse Nice Medal for lifetime contributions to ornithology from the Wilson Ornithological Union in 1997.
Elsie Collias died on December 17, 2006. Nick Collias died on April 28, 2010 at home in Van Nuys, California.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of materials related to Nicholas E. Collias' work as a zoology educator, field biologist and published
author of scientific research articles. Collias worked on his long term research program concerning the development of social
behavior in birds with his wife, Elsie C. Collias. Their research is best known for its investigations of social hierarchies
such as pecking order, vocal communications and external constructions, notably nests. The collection consists of field notes,
manuscripts of research articles, correspondence, academic work related to his undergraduate and graduate degrees, teaching
materials and records of professional involvement as a founding member of the Animal Behavior Society. The collection also
contains publications issued by the United States Army Air Forces that Collias annotated during his service with the Army
as a medical research physiologist.
Organization and Arrangement
The collection has been arranged in the following series:
- Field notes, 1950-2005
- Manuscripts and publications, 1950-2008
- Correspondence, 1933-2004
- Teaching and research materials, circa 1946-2004
- B.S. and Ph.D. notes, papers and thesis drafts, 1930-1948
- Professional organization records, 1958-2007
- United States Army Air Forces publications, 1943-1945