John Leonard McKean (1941 – 16 February 1996) was an Australian ornithologist. He published around 100 scientific papers on

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s and

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

s. He was a bird and bat bander and major contributor to the

Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme The Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme (ABBBS), a combination of the former Australian bird banding and bat banding schemes, is managed by the Department of the Environment, Australia. History The earliest banding of wild birds for scientific ...

. As well as being a professional ornithologist with the CSIRO's Division of Wildlife Research, McKean was an enthusiastic

twitcher Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

, holding the record for the highest number of species of Australian birds seen in one year, 535, until 1979 when this was surpassed by Roy Wheeler. He was also involved with 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 ...

Atlas of Australian Birds The Atlas of Australian Birds is a major ongoing database project initiated and managed by BirdLife Australia (formerly the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union) to map the distribution of Australia's bird species. BirdLife Australia is a n ...

project.Robin, Libby. (2001). ''The Flight of the Emu: a hundred years of Australian ornithology 1901-2001''. Melbourne University Press: Carlton.

References

1941 births 1996 deaths Australian ornithologists 20th-century Australian zoologists {{Australia-ornithologist-stub