Major Geoffrey Armstrong Buddle (16 September 1887 – 9 June 1951) was a New Zealand naturalist, ornithologist, and civil engineer, and a founding member of the

Ornithological Society of New Zealand The Ornithological Society of New Zealand (OSNZ), also known as Birds New Zealand, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the study of birds and their habitats in the New Zealand region. Founded in 1940, it caters to a wide variety of people in ...

. He was the grandson of the early Methodist missionary

Thomas Buddle Thomas Buddle (24 December 1812 – 27 June 1883) was a New Zealand missionary and Wesleyan Methodist leader. Early Life Thomas Buddle was born in Durham, County Durham, England on 24 December 1812, the son of Mary Anderson and Mathew Buddle ...

Ornithological specimen collection

Buddle built a scientific collection between 1890 and the 1940s consisting of 461 eggs and 41 other assorted items, and gave it to the

Auckland War Memorial Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira (or simply the Auckland Museum) is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its collections concentrate on New Zealand history (and especially the history of the Aucklan ...

in stages between 1931 and 1951. The collection contains specimens from the

Subantarctic The sub-Antarctic zone is a region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° and 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many islands ...

, mainland New Zealand,

Stewart Island Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...

Kermadec Islands The Kermadec Islands ( mi, Rangitāhua) are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand. They are in total are ...

, and

Kanton Island Canton Island (also known as Kanton or Abariringa), previously known as Mary Island, Mary Balcout's Island or Swallow Island, is the largest, northernmost, and , the sole inhabited island of the Phoenix Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati. It i ...

(part of the Phoenix Islands in the Republic of Kiribati). Because of its size and scope, the collection provides important historical breeding records of birds, and is rated one of the most important bird collections in that museum.

War service

After graduating from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, Buddle was working in England as an engineer at the outbreak of World War I. He joined the Royal Engineers, taking part in the Gallipoli Campaign and travelling to the Western Front (the Somme and Arras). He was awarded a "for distinguished service in connection with military operations in France and Flanders" (awarded for bridge-building under fire). He was seriously gassed, which led to long-term health problems. GeoffreyArmstrongBuddle withShark

Curatorial work

Buddle was Acting Ornithologist at Auckland Museum while the curator was away on war service between 1943 and 1945. Buddle continued as Associate Ornithologist from 1945 until his death. His notebook, diary, correspondence and photographic collection are held by the museum. He also took part in the solar-eclipse expedition to Canton Island on 8 June 1937, on which he collected specimens for the museum (among them invertebrates and birds).

Publications

* 1938 ''Notes on the birds of Canton Island''. Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum 2: 125–132. * 1939 ''Some notes on the breeding habits of the dabchick''. Emu 39: 77–84. * 1941 ''Birds of the Poor Knights''. Emu 41: 56–68. * 1941 ''Photographing the spotless crake''. Emu 41: 130–134. * 1946 ''A second visit to the Poor Knights''. Emu 45: 315–318. * 1947 ''Notes on the birds of Mokohinau''. New Zealand Bird Notes 2: 69–70. * 1947 ''Breeding of the red-billed gull''. New Zealand Bird Notes 2: 71–72. * 1947 ''Contributions to the gannet census. VII. New gannetry off Karaka Point. VIII. Gannets of the Three Kings''. New Zealand Bird Notes 2: 128–130. * 1948 ''Contributions to the gannet census. XII. Gannetries north of Auckland, season 1947–48''. New Zealand Bird Notes 3: 40–42. * 1948 ''The outlying islands of the Three Kings group''. Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum 3: 195–204. * 1949 ''Birds of Three Kings and neighbouring waters''. New Zealand Bird Notes 3: 147–150. * 1951 ''Bird Secrets''. Reed, Wellington.

References

External links

Photographs by (and of) Buddle
in the collection of

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buddle, Geoffrey Armstrong 1887 births 1951 deaths New Zealand ornithologists New Zealand military personnel of World War I People associated with the Auckland War Memorial Museum 20th-century New Zealand zoologists