Background
Behle was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 13, 1909, the second of three children of parents Augustus Calvin Behle, a surgeon, and Daisy May Behle.
Behle was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 13, 1909, the second of three children of parents Augustus Calvin Behle, a surgeon, and Daisy May Behle.
William studied at the University of Utah, earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1932 and Master of Arts in 1933, then pursued doctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley, under Joseph Grinnell, earning a Doctor of Philosophy in 1937.
He published around 140 papers on the biogeography and taxonomy of birds, focusing largely on birds of the Great Basin. Aside from four summers as a naturalist at Grand Canyon National Park, he spent the majority of his career as a professor at the University of Utah, where he worked from 1937 until his retirement in 1977, and continued to perform research as professor and curator emeritus. Behle"s contributions to ornithology include some 140 papers on bird distribution and taxonomy, and the description of several subspecies (geographic races), including the western purple martin (subspecies Progne subis arboricola) and a race of slate-colored fox sparrow.
Behle"s 1990 book Utah Birds: Historical Perspectives and Bibliography focused the history of ornithology in Utah from 1776 to modern times, with biographical accounts of collectors and researchers, amateur and professional alike.
University of California Berkeley professor Ned K. Johnson called it "the most detailed ornithological history of any extensive region of North America."
In 1934, Behle married Dorothy Davis, who died in 2001. William Behle died on February 26, 2009 at the age of 99, and was survived by two sons.
Behle was a fellow of the American Ornithologists" Union and American Association for the Advancement of Science, president (1972–1974) of the Cooper Ornithological Society, and member of the Wilson Ornithological Society.