Ian James Ferguson-Lees (8 January 1929 in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

– 11 January 2017) was a British ornithologist. He became known as a member of the

British Birds Rarities Committee The British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC), established in 1959, is the national bird rarities committee for Britain. It assesses claimed sightings of bird species that are rarely seen in Britain, based on descriptions, photographs and video r ...

who was responsible, with

John Nelder John Ashworth Nelder (8 October 1924 – 7 August 2010) was a British statistician known for his contributions to experimental design, analysis of variance, computational statistics, and statistical theory. Contributions Nelder's work was inf ...

and

Max Nicholson Edward Max Nicholson (12 July 1904 – 26 April 2003) was a pioneering environmentalist, ornithologist and internationalist, and a founder of the World Wildlife Fund. Early life Max Nicholson, as he was known to all, was born in Kilternan, Ir ...

, for publicly debunking the

Hastings Rarities The Hastings Rarities affair is a case of statistically demonstrated ornithological fraud that misled the bird world for decades in the 20th century. The discovery of the long-running hoax shocked ornithologists. The Hastings Rarities were a se ...

Life and work

Ferguson-Lees spent his early years in

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, but was educated in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He turned down the chance to study

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

in order to get married, and became a teacher for seven years. As a boy, he was taught about birds by Bernard Tucker. He was also a

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 ...

, once driving through the night to see a dusky thrush at Hartlepool. In 1952

persuaded him to become Assistant Editor of British Birds, then two years later, Executive Editor. Ferguson-Lees was a member of the

from 1959 to 1963 and was responsible, with

and Nicholson, for debunking the

- a series of rare birds, preserved by a

taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proc ...

and provided with bogus histories.Nicholson & Ferguson-Lees, 1962. He has made a particular study of peregrines and

dunnock The dunnock (''Prunella modularis'') is a small passerine, or perching bird, found throughout temperate Europe and into Asian Russia. Dunnocks have also been successfully introduced into New Zealand. It is by far the most widespread member of th ...

s. He died on 11 January 2017. He had two sons and two daughters.

Bibliography

* * Ferguson-Lees, James; Campbell, Bruce (editors, 1978-79). ''The Natural History of Britain and Northern Europe'' series. Hodder & Stoughton, London. "A complete survey of our natural history contained, for the first time, in five compact field guides", edited by Ferguson-Lees and Campbell, and authored by other naturalists: ** Owen, Denis, ''Towns and Gardens'' (1978) ** Darlington, Arnold, ''Mountains and Moorlands'' (1978) ** Boatman, Derrick, ''Fields and Lowlands'' (1979) ** Barnes, Richard, ''Coasts and Estuaries'' (1979) ** Whitton, Brian, ''Rivers, Lakes and Marshes'' (1979) *

Contributions

* ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe'' by Roger Peterson,

Guy Mountfort Guy Mountfort (4 December 1905 – 23 April 2003) was an English advertising executive, amateur ornithologist and conservationist. He is known for writing the pioneering ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe'', published in 1954 ...

, P. A. D. Hollom.

Collins Collins may refer to: People Surname Given name * Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat * Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration * Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...

, 1965 ** new edition of 1954 work; revised and enlarged in collaboration with Ferguson-Lees and D.I.M. Wallace. ** 1971 impression: ** 2004 edition:

Articles

* Nicholson, E.M.; & Ferguson-Lees, I.J. (1962). The Hastings Rarities. ''British Birds'' (August 1962) 55(8): 281.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson-Lees, James 1929 births 2017 deaths British ornithological writers