Peter Slater (17 October 1932 - 28 May 2020) 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 ...

wildlife art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

ist and photographer. Slater grew up in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and moved to

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

in 1966. He began photographing birds from an early age, has won numerous awards in international exhibitions, and was made an ''Artiste'' of the ''

Fédération Internationale de l'Art Photographique Fédération Internationale de l'Art Photographique, or FIAP (Eng. The International Federation of Photographic Art), is an international organization of national associations of photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of ...

'' in 1964. He has produced several natural history books and

field guide A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the "field" or local area where such objects exi ...

s, often in collaboration with his wife Pat or his son Raoul.Encyclopedia of Australian Science. In her 2001 book ''Feather and Brush'', a historical survey of Australian bird painting,

Penny Olsen Penelope Diane Olsen is an Australian ornithologist and author. She has worked with CSIRO as an experimental officer and an Honorary Research Associate as well as being an ARC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Australian National University. She is a ...

says:

”Naturalist, artist and writer, Peter Slater could be said to be the most modern equivalent of Neville Cayley Jr. Both have published enormously successful field guides to Australian birds, reprinted many times, and both have written on and illustrated butterflies."Olsen (2001), p.122.

"To knowledgeable critics, Slater is now a more accomplished artist than his predecessor. However, this was not yet evident in his early artwork, which includes the plates in ''Australian Flycatchers and their Allies'', among the first of a new wave of bird identification books. More than any of his contemporaries, he has developed his art in the public eye, chronicled in the many publications containing his work. His rare but successful exhibitions serve to mark stages in his progress and delineate the beginning of new phases in his work. Since 1964, he has illustrated with photographs or paintings, an impressive 30 or more books on birds, and reckons to have painted every Australian bird no less than four times."

Publications

Books authored or coauthored by Slater, or those featuring his illustrations, include: * 1959 – ''Wildflowers of Western Australia''. (With Eric Lindgren). West Australian Newspapers Ltd: Perth. * 1964 – ''Western Australian Birds''. BP Refinery: Kwinana. * 1966 – ''Wildlife of Western Australia''. (With Eric Lindgren). West Australian Newspapers Ltd: Perth. * 1968 – ''Birds of Australia''. (With Stanley Breeden). Angus & Robertson: Sydney. * 1968 – ''The Hidden Face of Australia''. (With Richard Woldendorp). Thomas Nelson: Melbourne. * 1970 – ''An Eagle for Pidgin''. (Author: Pat Slater). Jacaranda Press. * 1970–1974 – '' A Field Guide to Australian Birds''. (2 vols). Rigby: Adelaide. * 1973 – '' Birds of Australia: A Summary of Information''. (Author: J.D. Macdonald). Reed: Sydney. * 1974 – ''Australian Bush Birds''. Rigby: Adelaide. * 1974 – ''Australian Flycatchers and their Allies''. (Author: Brigadier Hugh R. Officer). Bird Observers Club: Melbourne. * 1978 – ''Rare and Vanishing Australian Birds''. Rigby: Adelaide. * 1979 – ''Masterpieces of Australian Bird Photography''. Rigby: Adelaide. * 1979 – ''The Observer's Book of Birds of Australia''. (With Pat Slater). Methuen: Sydney. * 1986 – ''

The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds ''The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds '' is one of the main national bird field guides used by Australian birders. Description The guide was first published in 1986 in Sydney by Rigby Publishers and authored by Peter Slater and other me ...

''. (With Pat and Raoul Slater). Rigby: Sydney. * 1987 – ''Australian Waterbirds''. (With Tom and Pam Gardner, and Raoul Slater). Reed: Sydney. * 1987 – ''The Illustrated Dictionary of Australian Birds by Common Name''. (Author: J.D. Macdonald). Reed: Sydney. * 1988 – ''The Slaters' Australian Birdwatcher's Notebook''. New Holland: Melbourne. * 1995 – ''Photographing Australia's Birds''. (With Raoul Slater). Steve Parish Publishing. * 1996–2006 – ''

Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds The ''Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds'', known as ''HANZAB'', is the pre-eminent scientific reference on birds in the region, which includes Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and the surrounding ocean and subantarctic i ...

''. (Vols.3–7). Oxford University Press: Melbourne. * 1997 – ''Australian Birds 1998 Diary''. Steve Parish Publishing. * 1997 – ''Australian Birds, A Collection of Paintings and Drawings''. Steve Parish Publishing. * 1997 – ''Amazing Facts About Australian Marine Life''. (With Pat Slater). Steve Parish Publishing. * 2000 – ''Cairns and the Tropical North''. (With Pat Slater). Steve Parish Publishing. * 2004 – ''Birds and bird lore of Bougainville and the North Solomons''. (Author: Don Hadden). Dove Publications: Alderley. * n.d. – ''Birds of Kings Park, Western Australia''. Paterson Brokensha: Perth.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * West Australian newspaper, 2 June 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Peter 1932 births 2020 deaths Australian ornithologists Australian illustrators Australian bird artists Australian photographers