Pauline Neura Reilly OAM FRAOU (5 December 1918 – 22 April 2011) was an Australian

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 ...

and author of children's books.

Biography

Reilly was born (as Pauline Duncan) in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. Her family moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

where she attended

Korowa Anglican Girls' School , motto_translation = No Reward Without Effort , established = 1890 , type = Independent, single-sex day school , denomination = Anglican , slogan = We can. We will. , ...

and

Melbourne Girls Grammar School , motto_translation = Without the Lord, All is in Vain , established = 1893 , type = Independent, single sex, day & boarding, Christian school. , years = ELC–12 , gender ...

until 1934. Before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

she worked as a secretary, then served from 1942 to 1944 as a gunner in the

Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) was formed in March 1941 after considerable lobbying by women keen to serve, as well as by the Chief of the Air Staff, who wanted to release male personnel serving in Australia for service ov ...

, as well as working for Australian Army Intelligence. She married Arthur Reilly in 1943. Reilly joined 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 bird conservation, conservati ...

(RAOU) in 1956, which she served as Publicity Officer 1966–1967, on the Field Investigations Committee 1969–1972, as President 1972–1975, and as the Chair of the Atlas Committee 1976–1982. From 1969 to 1970 she was President of the Bird Banders' Association of Australia. From 1964 to 1981 she was the Honorary Regional Victorian Organiser of 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 ...

. One of her main achievements with the RAOU was the instigation, leadership and successful conclusion of the RAOU's first

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 no ...

project, fieldwork for which ran from 1 January 1977 to 31 December 1981. Reilly was actively involved in ornithological fieldwork for many years, especially in studies of

little penguin The little penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') is a species of penguin from New Zealand. They are commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate-blue plumage and are also known by their Māori name . The Australian lit ...

s. In 1968 she founded the Penguin Study Group of the Victorian Ornithological Research Group. In 1973 she led an expedition to the

Great Australian Bight The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia. Extent Two definitions of the extent are in use – one used by the International Hydrog ...

to carry out penguin research. In 1978–79 she became the first woman to spend the summer research season on subantarctic

Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is an island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. Regionally part of Oceania and politically a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1900, it became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 197 ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

penguins. She was invited to open the Second International Penguin Conference in August 1992. In later years Reilly moved to

Aireys Inlet Aireys Inlet is a small coastal inlet and town located on the Great Ocean Road, southwest of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Aireys Inlet is located between Anglesea and Lorne, and joined with Fairhaven, Moggs Creek, and Eastern View to the ...

on the Victorian coast where she concentrated on writing a series of scientifically accurate

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

about Australian birds and other animals, mainly illustrated first by Will Rolland and later by Kaylene Traynor. Reilly died on 22 April 2011, aged 92.

Honours

* 1981 – elected a Fellow of the RAOU * 1987 and 1992 – received Whitley Book Awards for Best Children's Series from the

Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales (RZSNSW) was formed in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1879 as the New South Wales Zoological Society. A Royal Charter was granted in September, 1908, leading to a change to the current name ...

* 1994 – awarded the Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM) for service to ornithology * 1994 – awarded the Wilderness Society Award for Children's Literature (non-fiction) * 2001 – awarded the RAOU's John Hobbs Medal for contributions to amateur ornithology in Australia * 2005 – awarded the

W. Roy Wheeler Medallion {{nofootnotes, date=December 2019 The W. Roy Wheeler Medallion for excellence in field ornithology was created on the occasion of the centenary of the founding of Bird Observation & Conservation Australia (BOCA) to commemorate Roy Wheeler MBE, FRA ...

for contributions to field ornithology by

Bird Observation & Conservation Australia Bird Observation & Conservation Australia (BOCA) was a club established on 12 April 1905 by members of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU) in Melbourne, Victoria, as the Bird Observers Club. Although inactive for many years, in 192 ...

*2005 – awarded the

Australian Natural History Medallion The Australian Natural History Medallion is awarded each year by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) to the person judged to have made the most meritorious contribution to the understanding of Australian Natural History. The idea origina ...

Published works

* Reilly, Pauline N. (1983). ''Fairy Penguins and Earthy People''. Lothian Publishing Co: Melbourne, Australia. * Blakers, Margaret; Davies, S.J.J.F.; & Reilly, Pauline N. (1984). ''The Atlas of Australian Birds''. Melbourne University Press: Carlton, Australia. * Reilly, Pauline N. (1988). ''The Lyrebird. A natural history''. Australian Natural History Series. NSW University Press: Kensington, Australia. * Reilly, Pauline N. (1988). ''Private Lives. Ages, mates and movements of some Australian birds''. Kangaroo Press: Kenthurst, Australia. * Reilly, Pauline N. (1994). ''Penguins of the World''. Oxford University Press: South Melbourne, Australia. * Dann, Peter; Norman, Ian; & Reilly, Pauline. (Eds). (1995). ''The Penguins: Ecology and Management''. Surrey Beatty & Sons: Chipping Norton, Australia. * Reilly, Pauline. (2001). ''Cannabis and Cancer: Arthur's Story''. Scribe Publications: Australia.

Children's books

* Reilly, Pauline. (1988). ''The Emu That Walks Towards the Rain''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1988). ''The Kookaburra That Helps at the Nest''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1988). ''The Lyrebird That is Always Too Busy to Dance''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1989). ''Australian Birds – True Life Stories''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1990) ''The Echidna''. Kangaroo Press * Reilly, Pauline. (1991). ''Platypus''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1993). ''Frillneck: An Australian Dragon''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1993). ''Kangaroo''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1993). ''The Tasmanian Devil''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1993). ''The Wombat''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1994). ''Sugar Glider''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1995). ''The Penguin That Walks at Night''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1995). ''The Galah''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1995). ''Kiwi''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1995). ''The Koala''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1995). ''Malleefowl: The Incubator Bird''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1995). ''Python''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1996). ''Bilby''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1996). ''Brolga''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1996). ''Penguin''. Kangaroo Press. ) * Reilly, Pauline. (1996). ''Pobblebonk the Frog''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1997). ''Echidna''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1997). ''Kangaroo''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1997). ''Pelican''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1998). ''Boobook the Owl''. Kangaroo Press. * Reilly, Pauline. (1998). ''Emperor the Magnificent Penguin''. Bristlebird Books. * Reilly, Pauline. (2000). ''Arcto the Seal''. Bristlebird Books. * Reilly, Pauline. (2000). ''Hippocampus the Seahorse''. Bristlebird Books. * Reilly, Pauline. (2001). ''Aquila the Eagle''. Bristlebird Books. * Reilly, Pauline. (2003). ''Ornithorhynchus the Platypus''. Bristlebird Books. (2nd revised ed. of ''Platypus'' (1991)) * Reilly, Pauline. (2005). ''Crocodylus the Freshwater Crocodile''. Bristlebird Books. * Reilly, Pauline. (2008). ''Varanus the Gardening Goanna''. Bristlebird Books.

References

1918 births 2011 deaths Australian ornithologists Australian science writers Australian nature writers Writers from Melbourne Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian children's writers Women ornithologists {{Authority control

Biography

Honours

Published works

Children's books

See also

Further reading

References