 Cruickshank was born in St. Thomas, the Virgin Islands on August 29, 1907 but grew up in New York where he began to take part in Christmas Bird Counts from 1922 as part of a group at the Evander Childs High School.He later became a bird educator for the National Audubon, lecturing across the country with slides and films.It has been estimated that his audience may have numbered 2,900,000 people in all.