Alexander William Milligan (1858 – 30 March 1921) was an Australian accountant, legal clerk, zoological collector and

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

. Milligan was born at

Sulky Gully Sulky Gully was the location of a gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yel ...

, near

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

in Victoria. He was educated at

Guildford, Victoria Guildford is a small settlement situated on the Loddon River, north-west of Melbourne, in Victoria, Australia. It is located on the Midland Highway between Daylesford and Castlemaine. The population recorded at the 2016 census was 333. Fac ...

. In 1897 he moved to Western Australia where he worked as a temporary accountant with the Department of Lands and Surveys. He was a founding member in 1901 of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union, with which he served as a member of the Checklist Committee. He was also the Honorary Consulting Ornithologist to the Western Australian Museum. In 1908 he moved back to Victoria where he died in St Kilda. Several birds were named after him by Gregory Mathews.

References

Australian ornithologists 1858 births 1921 deaths Zoological collectors {{Australia-ornithologist-stub