Baron Christoph Freiherr Fellner von Feldegg (13 October 1779 – 10 May 1845,

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n army officer and naturalist. Fellner was born in a noble family in Krumau, Bohemia, where his father was a princely forester in

Schwarzenberg Schwarzenberg may refer to: People * House of Schwarzenberg, Franconian and Bohemian aristocratic family which was first mentioned in 1172 ** Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg (1771–1820), Field Marshal in Austrian service during the Napo ...

. Fellner went to a military academy in Vienna and in 1808, became a sub-lieutenant in an army battalion and fought in the

Battle of Aspern-Essling In the Battle of Aspern-Essling (21–22 May 1809), Napoleon crossed the Danube near Vienna, but the French and their allies were attacked and forced back across the river by the Austrians under Archduke Charles. It was the first time Napole ...

under Archduke Karl. He also served in the Regiment de Vaux in 1813 where he distinguished himself. In 1815 he was knighted in the

Military Order of Maria Theresa The Military Order of Maria Theresa (german: Militär-Maria-Theresien-Orden; hu, Katonai Mária Terézia-rend; cs, Vojenský řád Marie Terezie; pl, Wojskowy Order Marii Teresy; sl, Vojaški red Marije Terezije; hr, Vojni Red Marije Te ...

. Feldegg fought in the

Napoleonic war The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

s and in recognition of his many gallant deeds was created a Baron in 1817. He served in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, stre ...

, eventually becoming

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

and

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latit ...

of the 6th Battalion of Chasseurs. Feldegg took a special interest in the birds of Dalmatia and accumulated a large collection of natural history specimens. He was a correspondent of

C. L. Brehm Christian Ludwig Brehm (24 January 1787 – 23 June 1864) was a German pastor and ornithologist. He was the father of the zoologist Alfred Brehm. Life Brehm was born in Schönau near Gotha on 24 January 1787. He was educated at University ...

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...

and

Hermann Schlegel Hermann Schlegel (10 June 1804 – 17 January 1884) was a German ornithologist, herpetologist and ichthyologist. Early life and education Schlegel was born at Altenburg, the son of a brassfounder. His father collected butterflies, which stimula ...

, and served for a time with the ornithologist Dr Karl Michahelles. His collection was donated to the Natural History Museum in Prague. Feldegg had a number of birds named after him, including a subspecies of the

Lanner falcon The lanner falcon (''Falco biarmicus'') is a medium-sized bird of prey that breeds in Africa, southeast Europe and just into Asia. It prefers open habitat and is mainly resident, but some birds disperse more widely after the breeding season. A ...

''Falco biarmicus feldeggi'' and the black-headed wagtail, ''Motacilla flava feldegg'', the Balkan and Black Sea sub-species of the yellow wagtail.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feldegg 1779 births 1845 deaths Ornithologists Naturalists from the Austrian Empire