David John Baker-Gabb is a New Zealand and Australian ornithologist. He is best known for his work on Australian birds of prey and the birds of Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

. He also served from 1993 to 1997 as director of the

Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union The Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU), now part of BirdLife Australia, was Australia's largest non-government, non-profit, bird conservation organisation. It was founded in 1901 to promote the study and conservation of the native b ...

Career

Baker-Gabb studied agriculture and then biology at Massey University in

Palmerston North, New Zealand Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

, graduating in 1978 with a master's degree in science for his work on the

swamp harrier The swamp harrier (''Circus approximans''), also known as the Australasian marsh harrier, Australasian harrier or swamp-hawk, is a large, slim bird of prey widely distributed across Australasia. In New Zealand it is also known as the harrier haw ...

. He then went to

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, where he studied the swamp harrier, the spotted harrier and other Australian

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...

to earn his PhD. He devoted himself from 1984 to 1987 to the study and conservation of the plains-wanderer. Between 1988 and 1989 he studied the habits of the

red goshawk The red goshawk (''Erythrotriorchis radiatus'') is probably the rarest Australian bird of prey. It is found mainly in the savanna woodlands of northern Australia, particularly near watercourses. It takes a broad range of live prey, mostly birds. ...

in the Northern Territory until 1990 when he joined the Department of Conservation and Environment in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

as a manager of threatened fauna, a role he carried out until 1992. From 1993, Baker-Gabb served as Director of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union, and during his term of office he established the Gluepot Reserve in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. After 1997, Baker-Gabb founded an environmental consulting company that specialised in threatened species recovery, wildlife surveys, the production of management plans and the assessment of properties for acquisition as reserves.

Family

Baker-Gabb married conservationist and ornithologist Julie Catherine (Kate) Fitzherbert in 1981, managing editor for the

Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds The ''Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds'', known as ''HANZAB'', is the pre-eminent scientific reference on birds in the region, which includes Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and the surrounding ocean and subantarctic ...

from 1986 to 1987 and then supporter services co-ordinator for the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union until 2000. Kate then took up a similar role with Bush Heritage Australia before becoming Bush Heritage's science and monitoring manager in 2008. They have two children.

Selected works

* ''Aspects of the biology of the Australasian harrier (Circus aeruginosus approximans Peale 1848): a thesis presented for the degree of Master of Science by thesis only in Zoology at Massey University''. 1978 * ''Comparative ecology and behaviour of swamp harriers Circus approximans, spotted harriers C. assimilis and other raptors in Australia and New Zealand.'' 1982 * ''Relative abundance, distribution and seasonal movements of Australian falconiformes 1986-1990''. 1999 * ''Managing native grasslands to maintain biodiversity and conserve the plains-wanderer''. 1993 * ''The Black-Eared Miner: A Decade of Recovery''. 2008

References

External links

Baker-Gabb, David
in

in

''News from over 180 alumni from around the globe.''
Massey, April 2003, p. 36 {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker-Gabb, David Australian ornithologists Living people Massey University alumni Monash University alumni New Zealand ornithologists Year of birth missing (living people)