Lancelot Eric Richdale (4 January 1900 – 19 December 1983) was a New Zealand teacher and amateur

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 ...

Biography

Born at Marton, New Zealand and educated in Wanganui, Richdale became a teacher based in Dunedin after obtaining a diploma in 1922 from

Hawkesbury Agricultural College Hawkesbury Agricultural College was the first agricultural college in New South Wales, Australia, based in Richmond. It operated from 1891 to 1989. It was established on 10 March 1891, and formally opened by Minister for Mines and Agriculture ...

near Sydney, Australia. Richdale's main ornithological interest was in seabirds, especially

penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

s and petrels, and he was engaged in long-term studies of various species for most of his life. He was the driving force to gain protection for the colony of

northern royal albatross The northern royal albatross or toroa, (''Diomedea sanfordi''), is a large seabird in the albatross family. It was split from the closely related southern royal albatross as recently as 1998, though not all scientists support that conclusion and ...

es at Taiaroa Head,

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, after discovering the first successful fledgling there in 1938. Richdale completed a Master's degree at the University of Otago in 1935, with a thesis on the history of agricultural education in New Zealand. Although his fieldwork was carried out in southern New Zealand, he spent some time studying overseas, as a Fulbright Fellow at Cornell University (1950–1951), as a

Nuffield Research Fellow Nuffield may refer to: * William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, founder of Oxford-based Morris Motors and philanthropist *Nuffield, Oxfordshire, a village in Oxfordshire, England and home of William Richard Morris from which he chose his title, Vis ...

at the Edward Grey Institute for Bird Research (1952–1955) and, after retirement, again as a Nuffield Fellow, at the Zoological Society of London (1960–1963). He was a member of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU) and contributed numerous papers to its journal, the '' Emu'' as well as to several other scientific journals. He produced a series of popular booklets about New Zealand birds as well as a series of biological monographs to publish the results of his research. In addition, he authored two major books,
Sexual Behavior in Penguins
' (University of Kansas Press, 1951), and ''A Population Study of Penguins'' (Clarendon Press, 1957). His publications earned him a DSc from the University of New Zealand in 1952, and in 1953 he was awarded the Hector Memorial Medal by the Royal Society of New Zealand. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to ornithology, in the 1982 Queen's Birthday Honours. Richdale died in Auckland in 1983.

References

*Fleming, Charles; & Warham, John. (1985). Launcelot Eric Richdale, OBE, (1900-1983). ''Emu'' 85: 53–54. *

External links

Sexual Behavior in Penguins
(University of Kansas Press, 1951). 316 p. illus., map. 24 cm. Bibliography. Open access full-text PDF file. {{DEFAULTSORT:Richdale, Lancelot Eric 1900 births 1983 deaths New Zealand ornithologists Scientists from Dunedin People from Marton, New Zealand New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century New Zealand zoologists Western Sydney University alumni Cornell University alumni University of New Zealand alumni Schoolteachers from Dunedin University of Otago alumni