Ferdinand Johann Adam von Pernau, Count of Rosenau (7 November 1660,

Steinach am Brenner Steinach am Brenner is a market town in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol located south of Innsbruck in the Wipptal at the Sill River. Geography Steinach am Brenner is located in Wipptal, along the Sill River Valley at ...

, Austria – 14 October 1731,

Schloss Rosenau, Coburg Schloss Rosenau, called in English The Rosenau or Rosenau Palace, is a former castle, converted into a ducal country house, near the town of Rödental, formerly in Saxe-Coburg, now lying in Bavaria, Germany. Schloss Rosenau was the birthplace an ...

) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

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 ...

. Ferdinand Pernau entered the

University of Altdorf The University of Altdorf () was a university in Altdorf bei Nürnberg, a small town outside the Free Imperial City of Nuremberg. It was founded in 1578 and received university privileges in 1622 and was closed in 1809 by Maximilian I Joseph of Ba ...

(near

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

) at age 16. He traveled for some time in

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and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, finally settling in Rosenau, near Coburg where he remained until his death. Fascinated by birds he built large aviaries where numerous species bred. Here he made observations of bird behavior and also he devised ways to tame birds and studied homing behaviour. In 1702 he anonymously published a narrative of his experiments and observations. The work entitled ''Unterricht was mit dem lieblichen Geschöpff, denen Vögeln, auch ausser dem Fang Nur durch die Ergründung Deren Eigenschafften und Zahmmachung oder ander Abrichtung Man sich vo Lust und Zeitvertreib machen könne : gestellt Durch den Hoch- und Wohlgebohrnen'' was popular and quickly reprinted in 1707 and 1716 (as ''Angenehmer Ziet-Vertreib, welchen das liebliche Geschöpf Die Vögel, Auch ausser dem Fang in Ergründung deren Eigenschaften Zahmmachung oder anderer Abrichtung dem Menschen schaffen können ; Mit vielen Anmerckungen versehen und mit schönen Kupffern gezieret Durch einen Die erschaffenen Creaturen beschauenden Liebhaber'') In 1720 he published an essay (''Angenehme Land-Lust Deren man in Städten und auf dem Lande, ohne, sonderbare Kosten, unschuldig geniessen kan, oder von Unterschied Fang Einstellung und Abrichtung der Vögel'') in which he said, for the first time that the singing of birds is not necessarily instinctive but is the result of learning. He was also the first to recognize the migration trigger factor was not hunger or cold, but some hidden mechanism. His work anticipated further developments of ornithology including that of

Konrad Lorenz Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (; 7 November 1903 – 27 February 1989) was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch. He is often regarded ...

. He was also one of the first to show his disgust at the killing of birds : ''I have no intention of describing how to catch birds ..but to describe the pleasure of watching these beautiful creatures of God without killing them''.

References

* * Michael Walters (2003). ''A Concise History of Ornithology.'' Yale University Press (New Haven, Connecticut), . {{DEFAULTSORT:Pernau, Ferdinand Johann Adam 1660 births 1731 deaths People from Innsbruck-Land District Austrian ornithologists Counts of Austria University of Altdorf alumni 17th-century Austrian people 18th-century Austrian people