The following is a timeline of ornithology events: Willughby Ornithology Title Page

Until 1700

Adriaen Coorte - Pelican and ducks in a mountain landscape

*1500–800 BC – The

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...

mention the habit of brood parasitism in the Asian koel (''Eudynamys scolopacea''). *4th century BC –

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatet ...

mentions over 170 sorts of birds in his work on animals. He recognises eight principal groups. *3rd century BC – The ''

Erya The ''Erya'' or ''Erh-ya'' is the first surviving Chinese dictionary. Bernhard Karlgren (1931:49) concluded that "the major part of its glosses must reasonably date from the 3rd century BC." Title Chinese scholars interpret the first title ch ...

'', a Chinese encyclopedia comprising glosses on passages in ancient texts, notably the Book of Songs, features 79 entries in its chapter "Describing Birds" *1st century AD –

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ...

's '' Historia Naturalis Book X'' is devoted to birds. Three groups based on characteristics of feet *2nd century AD – Aelian mentions a number of birds in his work on animals. Birds are listed alphabetically *1037 – Death of Abu ‘Ali al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Sina (known as

Avicenna Ibn Sina ( fa, ابن سینا; 980 – June 1037 CE), commonly known in the West as Avicenna (), was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and writers of the Islam ...

in Latin) author of ''Abbreviatio de animalibus'', a homage to

*c 1100 Hugh of Fouilloy authors ''De avibus'', a moral treatise on birds later incorporated into many versions of the popular medieval

bestiary A bestiary (from ''bestiarum vocabulum'') is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals and even rocks. The natural history a ...

. *1220 – Books on birds and other animals by

and

translated into Latin for the first time by

Michael Scot Michael Scot (Latin: Michael Scotus; 1175 – ) was a Scottish mathematician and scholar in the Middle Ages. He was educated at Oxford and Paris, and worked in Bologna and Toledo, where he learned Arabic. His patron was Frederick II of the Ho ...

*1250 – Death of Frederick II von Hohenstaufen, Holy Roman Emperor, and author of ''

De arte venandi cum avibus ''De Arte Venandi cum Avibus'', literally ''On The Art of Hunting with Birds'', is a Latin treatise on ornithology and falconry written in the 1240s by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. One of the surviving manuscripts is dedicated to his s ...

'' ("concerning the art of hunting with birds") that describes the first manipulative experiments in ornithology and the methods of

falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

*1478 – '' De Avibus'' by

Albertus Magnus Albertus Magnus (c. 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop. Later canonised as a Catholic saint, he was known during his li ...

is printed, which mentions many bird names for the first time *1485 – First dated copy of ''Ortus sanitatis'' by Johannes de Cuba *1544 – William Turner prints a commentary on the birds mentioned by Aristotle and Pliny *1555 –

Conrad Gessner Conrad Gessner (; la, Conradus Gesnerus 26 March 1516 – 13 December 1565) was a Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist. Born into a poor family in Zürich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly realised his ta ...

's '' Historic Animalium qui est de Auium natura'' and

Pierre Belon Pierre Belon (1517–1564) was a French traveller, naturalist, writer and diplomat. Like many others of the Renaissance period, he studied and wrote on a range of topics including ichthyology, ornithology, botany, comparative anatomy, architec ...

's (Bellonius) ''Histoire de la nature des Oyseaux''. Belon lists birds according to a definite system *1573 – Volcher Coiter publishes his first treatise on bird anatomy *1591 –

Joris Hoefnagel Joris Hoefnagel or Georg Hoefnagel (1542, in Antwerp – 24 July 1601, in Vienna) was a Flemish painter, printmaker, miniaturist, draftsman and merchant. He is noted for his illustrations of natural history subjects, topographical views, ...

starts to work for

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the H ...

and produces for him 90 oil-base paintings, of which one is of the

dodo The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest genetic relative was the also-extinct Rodrigues solitaire. The ...

. *1596 – The '' Compendium of Chinese Materia Medica'' by

Li Shizhen Li Shizhen (July 3, 1518 – 1593), courtesy name Dongbi, was a Chinese acupuncturist, herbalist, naturalist, pharmacologist, physician, and writer of the Ming dynasty. He is the author of a 27-year work, found in the ''Compendium of ...

includes a total of 77 species of bird. *1599 – Beginning of the publication of the works of

Ulisse Aldrovandi Ulisse Aldrovandi (11 September 1522 – 4 May 1605) was an Italian naturalist, the moving force behind Bologna's botanical garden, one of the first in Europe. Carl Linnaeus and the comte de Buffon reckoned him the father of natural history s ...

on birds. *1603 –

Caspar Schwenckfeld Caspar (or Kaspar) Schwen(c)kfeld von Ossig () (1489 or 1490 – 10 December 1561) was a German theologian, writer, physician, naturalist, and preacher who became a Protestant Reformer and spiritualist. He was one of the earliest promoters ...

publishes the first regional fauna of Europe: ''Therio-tropheum Silesiae''. *1605 – Clusius publishes ''Exoticorum libri decem'' ("Ten books of exotics") in which he describes many new exotic species. *1609 – The illustrated ''

Sancai Tuhui ''Sancai Tuhui'' (, ), compiled by Wang Qi () and his son Wang Siyi (), is a Chinese '' leishu'' encyclopedia, completed in 1607 and published in 1609 during the late Ming dynasty, featuring illustrations of subjects in the three worlds of heave ...

'', a Chinese encyclopedia by Wang Qi & Wang Siyi, lists a total of 113 species of bird. *1638 –

Georg Marcgraf Georg Marcgrave (originally german: Georg Marggraf, also spelled ''"Marcgraf" "Markgraf"'') (1610 – 1644) was a German naturalist and astronomer, whose posthumously published ''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae'' was a major contribution to early mod ...

begins a voyage to Brazil where he studies the fauna and flora. *1652 – Leopoldina founded in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. It is the oldest continuously existing learned society in the world. *1655 –

Ole Worm Ole Worm (13 May 1588 – 31 August 1654), who often went by the Latinized form of his name Olaus Wormius, was a Danish physician, natural historian and antiquary. He was a professor at the University of Copenhagen where he taught Greek, Lat ...

collects a famous cabinet of curiosities whose illustrated inventory appears in 1655, ''Museum Wormianum''. This collection comprises many birds but the techniques of conservation are not successful and they are quickly destroyed by insects. *1657 – Publication of ''Historiae naturalis de avibus'' by

John Jonston John Jonston or Johnston ( pl, Jan Jonston; la, Joannes or or ; 15 September 1603– ) was a Polish scholar and physician, descended from Scottish nobility and closely associated with the Polish magnate Leszczyński family. Life Jonston was ...

. *1667 – Christopher Merrett publishes the first fauna of Great Britain, followed two years later by that of Walter Charleton. *1676 – Publication of

Francis Willughby Francis Willughby (sometimes spelt Willoughby, la, Franciscus Willughbeius) FRS (22 November 1635 – 3 July 1672) was an English ornithologist and ichthyologist, and an early student of linguistics and games. He was born and raised at Mid ...

's ''Ornithologia'' by his collaborator

John Ray John Ray FRS (29 November 1627 – 17 January 1705) was a Christian English naturalist widely regarded as one of the earliest of the English parson-naturalists. Until 1670, he wrote his name as John Wray. From then on, he used 'Ray', after ...

. This is considered the beginning of scientific ornithology in Europe, revolutionizing ornithological

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

by organizing species according to their physical characteristics *1681 – The last

dies on the island of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

18th century

*1702 –

Ferdinand Johann Adam von Pernau Ferdinand Johann Adam von Pernau, Count of Rosenau (7 November 1660, Steinach am Brenner, Austria – 14 October 1731, Schloss Rosenau, Coburg) was an Austrian ornithologist. Ferdinand Pernau entered the University of Altdorf (near Nuremberg) at a ...

publishes a popular pioneering essay on bird behaviour. *1710 – Osservatorio Ornitologico di

Arosio Arosio ( Brianzöö: ; locally ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about southeast of Como. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,521 and an area o ...

established *1713 – Death of the collector Johan de la Faille *1715 – Levinus Vincent publishes ''Wondertooneel der Nature'' the ''Wonder Theater of Nature'' *1716 –

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

purchases the natural history collection of Albertus Seba *1724–1726 – François Valentijn and George Eberhard Rumpf give the first accounts of birds-of-paradise in ''Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën'' ("Old and New East India") *1731–1738

Eleazar Albin Eleazar Albin (fl. 1690 – c. 1742)Michael A. Salmon, Peter Marren, Basil Harley. ''The Aurelian Legacy'' (University of California Press, 2000) pp. 109-110. was an English naturalist and watercolourist illustrator who wrote and illustra ...

publishes ''A Natural History of Birds'' *1731–1743 –

Mark Catesby Mark Catesby (24 March 1683 – 23 December 1749) was an English naturalist who studied the flora and fauna of the New World. Between 1729 and 1747 Catesby published his ''Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands'', the fi ...

publishes his ''Natural History of Carolina'', which contains coloured plates of the birds of that colony, Florida and the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...

*1733 – Great Northern Expedition leaves

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

*1735 –

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

publishes his ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nom ...

''. The classification of birds follows that of Ray *1737 –

Giuseppe Zinanni Count Giuseppe Zinanni or Ginanni (; 7 November 1692 in Ravenna – 23 October 1753 in Ravenna) was an Italian naturalist. Biography Zinanni wrote the first book entirely devoted to the eggs and nests of birds ''Delle uova e dei nidi degli uccel ...

writes the first book entirely devoted to the eggs and nests of birds, ''Dell Uova Nidi e dei degli Uccelli'' published in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

*1741 –

Georg Steller Georg Wilhelm Steller (10 March 1709 – 14 November 1746) was a German botanist, zoologist, physician and explorer, who worked in Russia and is considered a pioneer of Alaskan natural history.Evans, Howard Ensign. Edward Osborne Wilson (col.) ...

studies the birds of the north Pacific on his voyage with

Vitus Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering (baptised 5 August 1681 – 19 December 1741),All dates are here given in the Julian calendar, which was in use throughout Russia at the time. also known as Ivan Ivanovich Bering, was a Danish cartographer and explorer in ...

*1742–1743 –

Johann Heinrich Zorn Johann Heinrich Zorn (4 February 1698 – 15 August 1748) was a Protestant pastor and ornithologist. Following the philosophy of natural or physico-theology he wrote a two volume work entitled ''Petino-Theologie oder Versuch, Die Menschen durch nä ...

publishes ''Petino-Theologie oder Versuch, Die Menschen durch nähere Betrachtung Der Vögel Zur Bewunderung Liebe und Verehrung ihres mächtigsten, weissest- und gütigsten Schöpffers aufzumuntern''. Ornithotheology, or an encouragement to humanity, through a careful observation of birds, towards admiration, love and respect for their powerful, of the wise and good Creator. *1743 – George Edwards begins publication of his bird plates *1744 –

Louisa Ulrika of Prussia Louisa Ulrika of Prussia ( sv, Lovisa Ulrika; german: Luise Ulrike) (24 July 1720 – 16 July 1782) was Queen of Sweden from 1751 to 1771 as the wife of King Adolf Frederick. She was queen mother during the reign of King Gustav III. Bac ...

becomes Queen of Sweden. She is a patron of Linnaeus. *1754 –

Jean-Louis Alléon-Dulac Jean-Louis Alléon-Dulac (1723–1788) was a French naturalist. Jean-Louis Alléon-Dulac was born in Saint-Étienne, Loire, the son of an adviser of the king. He became a lawyer at the Parliament of Lyon between 1748 and 1765, Director of the p ...

publishes ''Mélange d'histoire naturelle'' *1756 – Wilhelm Heinrich Kramer publishes in ''Elenchus Vegetabilium et Animalium per Austriam inferiorem Observatorum'' *1756 –

Louis Daniel Arnault de Nobleville Louis Daniel Arnault de Nobleville (21 December 1701, Orléans – 1 February 1778) was a French physician and naturalist. Louis Daniel Arnault de Nobleville was born into an orléanaise family whose wealth came from sugar refinery. He studied m ...

publishes ''Histoire naturelle des animaux'' *1757 –

Michel Adanson Michel Adanson (7 April 17273 August 1806) was an 18th-century French botanist and naturalist who traveled to Senegal to study flora and fauna. He proposed a "natural system" of taxonomy distinct from the binomial system forwarded by Linnaeus. ...

publishes ''Histoire naturelle du Senegal''. *1758 –

publishes the first volume of the

10th edition 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

of his

, the first application of

binomial nomenclature In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, b ...

to birds. *1759–1771 –

Peter Ascanius Peter Ascanius (24 May 1723 – 4 June 1803) was a Norwegian- Danish biologist and geologist. He was a professor of zoology and mineralogy. Early life and education He was born at Aure in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. In 1742 he graduated fr ...

''Icones rerum naturalium'' *1760 –

Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher. Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history; his published wo ...

's six-volume ''Ornithologie'' improves upon Linnaeus' classification Hodges, Resolution and Adventure in Matavai Bay

*1763 –

Erik Pontoppidan Erik Ludvigsen Pontoppidan (24 August 1698 – 20 December 1764) was a Danish author, a Lutheran bishop of the Church of Norway, an historian, and an antiquarian. His Catechism of the Church of Denmark heavily influenced Danish and Norwegian r ...

begins ''Den Danske atlas eller Konge-Riget Dannemark'' *1765 – Edme-Louis Daubenton engaged by

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (; 7 September 1707 – 16 April 1788) was a French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and encyclopédiste. His works influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including two prominent F ...

to supervise the illustration of his ''Histoire naturelle'' *1766–1769 French naturalist Philibert Commerçon accompanies

Louis Antoine de Bougainville Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (, , ; 12 November 1729 – August 1811) was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of the British explorer James Cook, he took part in the Seven Years' War in North America and the American Revolut ...

on a voyage of

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...

*1768–1780 – Voyages of James Cook to the Pacific and Australia during which many birds new to science are collected by Joseph Banks and

Johann Reinhold Forster Johann Reinhold Forster (22 October 1729 – 9 December 1798) was a German Reformed (Calvinist) pastor and naturalist of partially Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America. He is best known ...

*1768 Ivan Lepyokhin explores the

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...

region *1770–1783 – Buffon's ''Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux'' was the first work to take into account the geographical distribution of birds *1770 – Cornelius Nozeman begins work on ''Nederlandsche Vogelen'' *1774 –

Jacob Christian Schäffer Jacob Christian Schäffer, alternatively Jakob, (31 May 1718 – 5 January 1790) was a German dean, professor, botanist, mycologist, entomologist, ornithologist and inventor. Biography From 1736 to 1738 he studied Theology at the Universit ...

divides the birds into two families, Palmipedes (web-footed) and the much larger family Nudipedes (not web-footed) in ''Elementa Ornithologica''. *1775 –

Ashton Lever Sir Ashton Lever FRS (5 March 1729 – 28 January 1788) was an English collector of natural objects, in particular the Leverian collection.Holophusikon *1776 –

Francesco Cetti Francesco Cetti (9 August 1726 – 20 November 1778) was an Italian Jesuit priest, zoologist and mathematician. Cetti was born in Mannheim in Germany, but his parents were natives of Como. He was educated in Lombardy and at the Jesuit college ...

publishes ''Uccelli di Sardegna'' *1776 – Saverio Manetti publishes the monumental ''Storia naturale degli uccelli'' *1776 –

Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller (25 April 1725 – 5 January 1776) was a German zoologist. Statius Müller was born in Esens, and was a professor of natural science at Erlangen. Between 1773 and 1776, he published a German translation of Linnaeu ...

publishes ''Des Ritters Carl von Linné Königlich Schwedischen Leibarztes ...'' *1776 – Peter Brown publishes ''New illustrations of Zoology'' *1778 –

Juan Ignacio Molina Fr. Juan Ignacio Molina (; (June 24, 1740 – September 12, 1829) was a Chilean Jesuit priest, naturalist, historian, translator, geographer, botanist, ornithologist, and linguist. He is usually referred to as Abate Molina (a form of Abbot M ...

publishes ''Saggio sulla storia naturale del Chile'' which includes the first descriptions of many South American species *1778–1785 Félix Vicq-d'Azyr begins Mémoires pour servir à l'anatomie des oiseaux in ''Mémoires de l'

Académie Royale des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at t ...

'' *1779–1780

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (11 May 1752 – 22 January 1840) was a German physician, naturalist, physiologist, and anthropologist. He is considered to be a main founder of zoology and anthropology as comparative, scientific disciplines. He w ...

Handbuch der Naturgeschichte; 12 editions and some translations. Published first in Göttingen by J. C. Dieterich *1780 Lazzaro Spallanzani ''Dissertationi di fisica animale e vegetale'' published. It includes investigations into bird physiology. *1782 – Pierre Joseph Buchoz ''Les dons merveilleux et diversement coloriés de la nature dans le règne animal, ou collection d’animaux précieusement coloriés'' (Paris : chez l'auteur) *1782 – Charles Joseph Panckoucke begins a publishing venture the

Encyclopédie Méthodique The ''Encyclopédie méthodique par ordre des matières'' ("Methodical Encyclopedia by Order of Subject Matter") was published between 1782 and 1832 by the French publisher Charles Joseph Panckoucke, his son-in-law Henri Agasse, and the latter's ...

*1782 –

publishes ''Handbuch der Naturgeschichte'' *1784 – Teyler's Museum founded *1784 – Joseph Franz von Jacquin ''Beyträge zur Geschichte der Vögel'' *1785 – John Latham completes his ''Synopsis of Birds'', which describes many birds collected in Australia and the Pacific Ocean.

Thomas Pennant Thomas Pennant (14 June OS 172616 December 1798) was a Welsh naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales. As a naturalist he had ...

publishes ''Arctic Zoology''. *1786–1789 – Anders Erikson Sparrman publishes ''Catalogue of the Museum Carlsonianum'' in which he described many of the specimens he had collected in South Africa and the South Pacific, some of which were new to science. In 1806 he published an ''Ornithology of Sweden'' *1787 –

Carl Peter Thunberg Carl Peter Thunberg, also known as Karl Peter von Thunberg, Carl Pehr Thunberg, or Carl Per Thunberg (11 November 1743 – 8 August 1828), was a Swedish naturalist and an "apostle" of Carl Linnaeus. After studying under Linnaeus at Uppsala Un ...

publishes ''Museum naturalium Academiæ Upsaliensis'' *1786–1789 –

Giovanni Antonio Scopoli Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723 – 8 May 1788) was an Italian physician and naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational European" and the "Linnaeus of the Au ...

describes birds collected by Pierre Sonnerat on his voyages. One is the black lory *1788 – Johann Friedrich Gmelin commences work on the 13th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' which includes the classification of many birds for the first time, especially those described by Latham *1788 – “de Arte Venandi cum Avibus” by Frederick II (d. 1250) published and compared favorably to contemporary science by

Blasius Merrem Blasius Merrem (4 February 1761 – 23 February 1824) was a German naturalist, zoologist, ornithologist, mathematician, and herpetologist. In 1804, he became the professor of political economy and botany at the University of Marburg. Early ...

and Johan Gottlobb Schneider *1789 – Publication of

Gilbert White Gilbert White FRS (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a " parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his ''Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''. Life White was born on ...

's ''Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne'' *1789–1813 – George Shaw commences ''The Naturalist's Miscellany or Coloured Figures Of Natural Objects; Drawn and Described Immediately From Nature'' Heron woodcut Bewick's British Birds 1847

Heron woodcut Bewick's British Birds 1847

*1790–1791 –

Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre Abbé Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre (1752, Aveyron – 20 September 1804, Saint-Geniez-d'Olt) was a French zoologist who contributed sections on cetaceans, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and insects Insects (from Latin ') are ...

writes ''Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique des trois règnes de la nature, Ornithologie'' in Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique *

Joachim Johann Nepomuk Spalowsky Joachim Johann Nepomuk Anton Spalowsky (1752, Reichenberg – 1797) was an Austrian naturalist and polymath. "He was a surgeon attached to the civic regiments of Vienna." Spalowsky's 1795 treatise on conchology, ''Prodromus in Systema Historic ...

– ''Beytrag zur Naturgeschichte der Vögel'' *1793 Friedrich Albrecht Anton Meyer publishes ''Systematisch-summarische Uebersicht der neuesten zoologischen Entdeckungen in Neuholland und Afrika'' *1794–6

James Bolton James Bolton (1735 – 7 January 1799) was an English naturalist, botanist, mycologist, and illustrator. Background James Bolton was born near Warley in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1735, the son of William Bolton, a weaver. James init ...

publishes ''Harmonia rurali''s, an "essay towards a natural history of British songbirds", issued in two volumes. *1796 – Johann Alois Senefelder invents the low cost printing technique of lithography. *1797 – François Le Vaillant begins publication of his ''Oiseaux d'Afrique'' giving details of species encountered on his exploration of South Africa. This work was translated into several languages and established his fame as a bird artist. *1797–1804 – Publication of

Thomas Bewick Thomas Bewick (c. 11 August 17538 November 1828) was an English wood-engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of work such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements, and illustrating c ...

's '' A History of British Birds'' *1799 –

François Marie Daudin François Marie Daudin (; 29 August 1776 in Paris – 30 November 1803 in Paris) was a French zoologist. With legs paralyzed by childhood disease, he studied physics and natural history, but ended up being devoted to the latter. Daudin wrote ' ( ...

writes ''Traité élémentaire et complet d'Ornithologie'' (Natural History of Birds), one of the first "modern" handbooks of ornithology, combining Linnean

with the anatomical and physiological descriptions of Buffon. Unfortunately it was never completed. *1799 – Philippe-Isidore Picot de Lapeyrouse publishes ''Tables méthodiques des mammifères et des oiseaux observés dans le département de la Haute-Garonne''. Also

Bernard Germain de Lacépède Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède or La Cépède (; 26 December 17566 October 1825) was a French naturalist and an active freemason. He is known for his contribution to the Comte de Buffon's great work, the ...

, in ''Discours d'ouverture et de clôture du cours d'histoire naturelle'', places the birds in 130

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...

in 39

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

. *1799 –

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, ...

journeys to South America where he finds the oilbird. He described it in 1817. Later in the trip he observed the behaviour of the

Andean condor The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a giant South American Cathartid vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. Found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, the Andean condor is the larg ...

19th century

*1800–1804 – "Le Geographe" and "Le Naturaliste" leave France for the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

under the overall command of

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. Biography Early career Born a comm ...

. The naturalists on board made a collection of over 100,000 zoological specimens. Many bird species will be described by

Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he colle ...

and published in ''Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle'' (1816–1819). *1800–1817 – Johann Conrad Susemihl publishes a 22-part survey of the birds of Germany, ''Teutsche Ornithologie oder Naturgeschichte aller Vögel Teutschlands in naturgetreuen Abbildungen und Beschreibungen''. Johann Conrad Susemihl06

Cyanoliseus patagonus -Psittacara patagonica Patagonian Parrakeet-Maccaw -by Edward Lear 1812-1888

*1801 – Alexander Wilson begins his study of North American birds, resulting in his ''American Ornithology'' (1808–1814), completed by

George Ord George Ord, Jr. (March 4, 1781 – January 24, 1866) was an American zoologist who specialized in North American ornithology and mammalogy. Based in part on specimens collected by Lewis and Clark in the North American interior, Ord's article "Zo ...

, and later updated by

Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857), was a French naturalist and ornithologist. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal Lucien Bonaparte. Life and career ...

. *1802 – Publication of George Montagu's ''

Ornithological Dictionary The ''Ornithological Dictionary; or Alphabetical Synopsis of British Birds'' was written by the English naturalist and army officer George Montagu, and first published by J. White of Fleet Street, London in 1802. It was one of the texts, al ...

''. In this year also ''Histoire des colibris, oiseaux-mouches, jacamars et promerops'' by Jean Baptiste Audebert was published two years after his death. *1802 – Louis Dufresne popularizes the use of arsenical soap for preserving birds, a technique which had enabled the

Museum d'Histoire Naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

in Paris to build the greatest collection of birds in the world *1804 Bewick's ''British Birds'': ''see 1797'' *1804– 1806 –

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

. This was the first overland expedition undertaken by the United States to the Pacific coast and back. The many birds seen include

Steller's jay Steller's jay (''Cyanocitta stelleri'') is a bird native to western North America and the mountains of Central America, closely related to the blue jay found in eastern North America. It is also known as the long-crested jay, mountain jay, and p ...

and greater prairie chicken. *1805 –

Johann Fischer von Waldheim Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim (russian: Григо́рий Ива́нович Фи́шер фон Ва́льдгейм, translit=Grigórij Ivánovič Fíšer fon Vál'dgejm; 13 October 1771 – 18 October 1853) was a Saxon anatomist, entomo ...

founded the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow. *1806 –

André Marie Constant Duméril André Marie Constant Duméril (1 January 1774 – 14 August 1860) was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of herpetology and ichthyology. ...

publishes ''Zoologie analytique'' reducing the number of bird orders to six *1806 –

Sébastien Gérardin Sébastien Gérardin (9 March 1751 in Mirecourt – 17 July 1816 in Paris) was a French naturalist. After training for the priesthood, Sébastien Gérardin became canon of Poussay in 1790. He was passionately interested in natural history, ...

publishes ''Tableau élémentaire d'ornithologie, ou Histoire naturelle des oiseaux que l'on rencontre communément en France'' *1811 – Publication of

Peter Simon Pallas Peter Simon Pallas Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (22 September 1741 – 8 September 1811) was a Prussian zoologist and botanist who worked in Russia between 1767 and 1810. Life and work Peter Simon Pallas was born in Berlin, the son ...

' ''Zoographia Russo-Asiatica'' includes details of the birds encountered in his journeys through

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...

*1811 –

Marie Jules Cesar Lelorgne de Savigny Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in ...

publishes ''Système des oiseaux de l'Égypte et de la Syrie'' *1811 –

Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger (19 November 1775 – 10 May 1813) was a German entomologist and zoologist. Illiger was the son of a merchant in Braunschweig. He studied under the entomologist Johann Hellwig, and later worked on the zoological colle ...

published ''Prodromus systematis mammalium et avium'' in which he proposed the review of the Linnean system and firmly established the concept of the

Family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

earlier proposed by François Marie Daudin. Illiger is considered the founder of the School of Nomenclatural Purists. *1812–13 – Johann Philipp Achilles Leisler describes new birds in ''Naturgeschichte Deutschlands'' begun by

Johann Matthäus Bechstein Johann Matthäus Bechstein (11 July 1757 – 23 February 1822) was a German naturalist, forester, ornithologist, entomologist, and herpetologist. In Great Britain, he was known for his treatise on singing birds (''Naturgeschichte der Stubenvögel ...

. One is the little stint *1812 –

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natu ...

founded. *1815 –

Coenraad Jacob Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temm ...

publishes his ''Manuel d'ornithologie'', the standard work on European birds for many years *1817–1820 –

Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix (9 February 1781 – 13 March 1826) was a German biologist. From his expedition to Brazil, he brought to Germany a large variety of specimens of plants, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians and fish. They constitute ...

and

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botanist and explorer. Life Martius was born at Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Mid ...

expedition to Brazil. They collect 350 bird species which are conserved in Zoologische Staatssammlung München. *1819–1826 Friedrich Strack ''Naturgeschichte in Bildern mit erlauterdem'' Arnz & Co., Düsseldorf. *1820 –

Heinrich Kuhl Heinrich Kuhl (17 September 1797 – 14 September 1821) was a German naturalist and zoologist. Kuhl was born in Hanau (Hesse, Germany). Between 1817 and 1820, he was the assistant of professor Th. van Swinderen, docent natural history at the ...

travels to

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

with

Johan Coenraad van Hasselt Johan Conrad van Hasselt (occasionally Johan Coenraad van Hasselt; 24 June 1797 in Doesburg – 8 September 1823), was a Dutch physician, zoologist, botanist and mycologist. Conrad van Hasselt studied medicine at the University of Groningen. ...

. They send 2000 bird skins to the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie founded in the same year 1820. *1820–1844 – Johann Friedrich Naumann publishes ''Naturgeschichte der Vögel Deutschlands'', The Natural History of German Birds *1820–23 – Encouraged by

William Elford Leach William Elford Leach FRS (2 February 1791 – 25 August 1836) was an English zoologist and marine biologist. Life and work Elford Leach was born at Hoe Gate, Plymouth, the son of an attorney. At the age of twelve he began a medical appren ...

William John Swainson William John Swainson FLS, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, malacologist, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swainson was born in Dover Place, St Mary Newington, London, the eldest son of ...

became the first illustrator and naturalist to use

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone ( lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...

for his ''Zoological Illustrations'' a relatively cheap work which did not require an engraver. *(1826–39) –

René Primevère Lesson René ('' born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name (Renée being the feminin ...

writes the vertebrate zoological section of ''Voyage au tour du monde sur La Coquille''. Lesson was the first naturalist to see live birds of paradise in the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...

and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

. *1826–1829 –

Jules Dumont d'Urville Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French explorer and naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica. As a botanist and cartographer, he gave his nam ...

commands the first voyage of the ''Astrolabe''. Zoological specimens from the South Pacific are collected for the

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loca ...

in Paris. These include many birds. *1826–1829 – Russian Senjawin expedition.

Heinrich von Kittlitz Friedrich Heinrich, Freiherr von Kittlitz (16 February 1799 – 10 April 1874) was a Prussian artist, naval officer, explorer and naturalist. He was a descendant of a family of old Prussian nobility ("Freiherr" meaning "independent lord" - ranking w ...

collects 754 specimens of 314 bird species, including unique specimens of species that subsequently became extinct to the museum of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

. *1826–1830 HMS ''Adventure'' and HMS ''Beagle'' under the overall command of

Phillip Parker King Rear Admiral Phillip Parker King, FRS, RN (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. Early life and education King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Anna J ...

begin a hydrographic survey of

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and ...

and

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...

. One of the birds collected and described by King is the

imperial shag The imperial shag or imperial cormorant (''Leucocarbo atriceps'') is a black and white cormorant native to southern South America, primarily in rocky coastal regions, but locally also at large inland lakes. Some taxonomic authorities, including ...

. *1827–1838 – Publication of

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin; April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictoria ...

's '' Birds of America'' *1828–1838 – Magnus von Wright publishes ''Svenska Foglar'' *1828 –

Roret The Boulevard Line ( da, Boulevardbanen) is a long partly underground railway between Copenhagen Central Station and Østerport Station in Copenhagen, Denmark. The quadruple track railway carries today one dual track for the Copenhagen S-t ...

, (Libraire) publish the second edition of Pierre Boitard and Emmanuel Canivet ''Manuel du naturaliste préparateur ou l’art d’empailler les animaux et de conserver les végétaux et les minéraux'' *1831–1836 –

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

travels to South America and the Galapagos Islands on board HMS ''Beagle''. His study of

Galapagos finches Darwin's finches (also known as the Galápagos finches) are a group of about 18 species of passerine birds. They are well known for their remarkable diversity in beak form and function. They are often classified as the subfamily Geospizinae or t ...

gives him ideas on natural selection *1832 –

Edward Lear Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised. His principal a ...

publishes '' Illustrations of the Family of the Psittacidae, or Parrots'' *1832 –

Johann Georg Wagler Johann Georg Wagler (28 March 1800 – 23 August 1832) was a German herpetologist and ornithologist. Wagler was assistant to Johann Baptist von Spix, and gave lectures in zoology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich after it was moved ...

publishes ''Monographia Psittacorum'' *1832 – Pablo de La Llave describes the resplendent quetzal *1833 – ''

Fauna Japonica ''Fauna Japonica'' is a series of monographs on the zoology of Japan. It was the first book written in a European language ( French) on the Japanese fauna, and published serially in five volumes between 1833 and 1850. The full title is . Based ...

'' based on the collections made by

Philipp Franz von Siebold Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold (17 February 1796 – 18 October 1866) was a German physician, botanist and traveler. He achieved prominence by his studies of Japanese flora and fauna and the introduction of Western medicine in Japan. He was ...

and his successor

Heinrich Bürger Heinrich Bürger (or: Heinrich Burger) (Hamelin, 29 February 1804, or 7 November 1804, or 20 January 1806 – Indramayu (Java) 25 March 1858) was a German physicist, biologist and botanist employed by the Dutch government, and an entrepreneur. ...

commenced. It was published serially in five volumes between 1833 and 1850. *1837 – Eugen Ferdinand von Homeyer publishes a study of the birds of

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to t ...

''Systematische Übersicht der Vögel Pommerns''. *1837 – William MacGillivray begins his five-volume ''A History of British Birds, indigenous and migratory'', completed in 1852. *1838 –

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...

travels to Australia with his wife Elizabeth to study the birds of that country *1840 – John Gould publishes the first part of '' The Birds of Australia'' *1840 –

Luigi Benoit Luigi Benoit (8 February 1804, in Avola – 19 December 1890, in Messina) was an Italian naturalist. Luigi Benoit studied at the military school "Nunziatella di Napoli" in Naples then began his career in the Agenzia delle Dogane in Messina wher ...

publishes ''Ornitologia Siciliana'' Egyptian Vulture in Yarrell's British Birds 1843

*1843 –

William Yarrell William Yarrell (3 June 1784 – 1 September 1856) was an English zoologist, prolific writer, bookseller and naturalist admired by his contemporaries for his precise scientific work. Yarrell is best known as the author of ''The History of ...

publishes '' History of British Birds'' as a whole in three volumes. It first appeared in parts of 3 sheets every 2 months from 1837 onwards. *1843–1849 – Artwork and scientific notes for John Cotton's Birds of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales gathered. *1844 – The last

great auk The great auk (''Pinguinus impennis'') is a species of flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus ''Pinguinus''. It is not closely related to the birds now known as penguins, w ...

is recorded in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

*1844 (– 1849) –

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray FRS (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years. He was the younger broth ...

head of the ornithological section of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

, now the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...

publishes ''Genera of Birds'' (1844–49), illustrated by David William Mitchell and Joseph Wolf. It includes 46,000 references. *1846 – Thomas Bellerby Wilson purchases the bird collection of François Victor Masséna *1850 –

Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft The German Ornithologists' Society (german: Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft) was founded in 1850, and is one of the world's oldest existing scientific societies. Its goal is to support and further scientific ornithology in Germany Germany ...

founded. *1853– 1856 –

John Cassin John Cassin (September 6, 1813 – January 10, 1869) was an American ornithologist from Pennsylvania. He worked as curator and Vice President at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences and focused on the systemic classification of the Acad ...

''Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Russian America'' *1855 –

Alexander von Middendorff Alexander Theodor von Middendorff (russian: Алекса́ндр Фёдорович Ми́ддендорф; tr. ; 18 August 1815 – 24 January 1894) was a zoologist and explorer of Baltic German and Estonian extraction. He is known for his ex ...

writes Die Isepiptesen Russlands, an account of bird migration in Russia. *1855 – Wagner Free Institute of Science founded *1857 –

Philip Sclater Philip Lutley Sclater (4 November 1829 – 27 June 1913) was an English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological Societ ...

presents his paper (published in 1858) "On the General Geographical Distribution of the Members of the Class Aves" to the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

, setting up six zoological regions which he called the Palaearctic, Aethiopian, Indian, Australasian, Nearctic and Neotropical. They are still in use. *1858 –

Alfred Newton Alfred Newton FRS HFRSE (11 June 18297 June 1907) was an English zoologist and ornithologist. Newton was Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Cambridge University from 1866 to 1907. Among his numerous publications were a four-volume ''Dictiona ...

forms the

British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds (" ornithology") and around the world, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, ...

*1859 –

Hermann Schlegel Hermann Schlegel (10 June 1804 – 17 January 1884) was a German ornithologist, herpetologist and ichthyologist. Early life and education Schlegel was born at Altenburg, the son of a brassfounder. His father collected butterflies, which stimula ...

sends Heinrich Agathon Bernstein to collect birds in

. *1861 – Fossil of ''

Archaeopteryx ''Archaeopteryx'' (; ), sometimes referred to by its German name, "" ( ''Primeval Bird''), is a genus of bird-like dinosaurs. The name derives from the ancient Greek (''archaīos''), meaning "ancient", and (''ptéryx''), meaning "feather" ...

'' found in Germany supports link between

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s and birds. *1861 –

Museum Godeffroy The Museum Godeffroy was a museum in Hamburg, Germany, which existed from 1861 to 1885. The collection was founded by Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy, who became a wealthy shipping magnate a few years after the expansion of the trade towards Aust ...

founded in Hamburg. The museum is devoted to the zoology and ethnography of the South Seas and Australia. *1864 – '' Illustrirtes Tierleben'' commenced *1866 –

August Emil Holmgren August Emil Algot Holmgren (10 November 1829 – 30 December 1888) was a Swedish entomologist mainly interested in the Hymenoptera, especially Ichneumonidae The Ichneumonidae, also known as the ichneumon wasps, Darwin wasps, or ichneumonids, ar ...

''Skandinaviens foglar'' (Birds of Scandinavia) *1868 –

Association for the Protection of Sea-Birds The Association for the Protection of Sea-Birds was formed in the late 1860s by The Rev. Henry Frederick Barnes-Lawrence the incumbent at Bridlington Priory to stop the practice of shooting sea birds for sport, a practice which was legislated for ...

formed in England *1868 –

Bernard Altum Johann Bernard Theodor Altum (31 January 1824, Münster, Province of Westphalia – 1 February 1900, Eberswalde) was a German Catholic priest, zoologist, and forest scientist who also engaged in popularizing his religiously grounded understanding ...

publishes ''Der Vogel und sein Leben'' (Birds and their lives) *1868–1882 –

José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage (2 May 1823 – 3 November 1907) was a Portuguese zoologist and politician. He was the curator of Zoology at the Museu Nacional de Lisboa in Lisbon. He published numerous works on mammals, birds, and fishes. In ...

begins ''Aves das possessões portuguesas d’ Africa occidental que existem no Museu de Lisboa, da 1ª à 24ª lista'' 1868 a 1882. *1869 – The

Sea Birds Preservation Act 1869 The Sea Birds Preservation Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 17) was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It was the first Act to protect wild birds in that country.Barclay-Smith (1959) History In 1868, Professor Alfred Newton addressed the Briti ...

is the first law passed in the United Kingdom to protect birds. *1870 – The ''Naturalists' Guide'' by Charles Johnson Maynard is published by James R. Osgood & Co. with illustrations by

Edwin Lord Weeks Edwin Lord Weeks (18491903) was an American artist, noted for his Orientalist works. Life Weeks was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1849. His parents were affluent spice and tea merchants from Newton, a suburb of Boston, and as such they we ...

. *1871 –

Henry Eeles Dresser Henry Eeles Dresser (9 May 183828 November 1915) was an English businessman and ornithologist. Background and early life Henry Dresser was born in Thirsk, Yorkshire, where his father was the manager of the bank set up by his grandfather. Dre ...

commences ''A History of the Birds of Europe'' with

Richard Bowdler Sharpe Richard Bowdler Sharpe (22 November 1847 – 25 December 1909) was an English zoologist and ornithologist who worked as curator of the bird collection at the British Museum of natural history. In the course of his career he published several mo ...

. *1872 – Leonardo Fea becomes an assistant at Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova. *1872 –

Julius von Haast Sir Johann Franz Julius von Haast (1 May 1822 – 16 August 1887) was a German-born New Zealand explorer, geologist, and founder of the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch. Early life Johann Franz Julius Haast was born on 1 May 1822 in Bo ...

describes ''Harpagornis moorei'', the extinct bird subsequently known as Haast's eagle. *1872–1877 – Christoph Gottfried Andreas Giebel begins ''Thesaurus ornithologiae'' *1873 – Publication of ''Ornitologia Italiana'' by Paolo Savi *1873 – Biophysicist

Hermann von Helmholtz Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The Helmholtz Associatio ...

develops a mathematical law of bird flight. *1874 –

publishes the first of a series of catalogues of birds in the collection of the

. *1876 – Friedrich Brüggeman publishes Beiträge zur Ornithologie von Celebes und Sangir. *1877 –

Émile Oustalet Jean-Frédéric Émile Oustalet (24 August 1844 – 23 October 1905 Saint-Cast) was a French zoologist.Hellmayr CE (1906). "Emile Oustalet bituary. ''Ornithologische Monatsberichte'' 14 (4): 57-59Scan Oustalet was born at Montbéliard, in the de ...

and

Armand David Father Armand David (7 September 1826, Espelette – 10 November 1900, Paris) was a Lazarist missionary Catholic priest as well as a zoologist and a botanist. Several species, such as Père David's deer, are named after him — b ...

publish ''Les Oiseaux de la Chine''. *1879 –

Richard Owen Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils. Ow ...

publishes the results of his studies of moa fossils. *1879 –

Tommaso Salvadori Count Adelardo Tommaso Salvadori Paleotti (30 September 1835 – 9 October 1923) was an Italian zoologist and ornithologist. Biography Salvadori was born in Porto San Giorgio, son of Count Luigi Salvadori and Ethelyn Welby, who was English. Hi ...

publishes ''Ornitologia della Papuasia e delle Molucche''. Torino. *1880 –

Percy Evans Freke Percy Evans Freke (1844–1931) was an Irish ornithologist and entomologist. Freke was born in Dublin. At age 21, he enlisted in the 44th Essex Regiment. Two years later, in 1887, he exchanged to the 18th Royal Irish Regiment and after serving two ...

1880 A comparative catalogue of birds found in Europe and North America. ''The Scientific proceedings of the

Royal Dublin Society The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) ( ga, Cumann Ríoga Bhaile Átha Cliath) is an Irish philanthropic organisation and members club which was founded as the 'Dublin Society' on 25 June 1731 with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economi ...

''. *1881 – Kōno Bairei publishes ''Album of One Hundred Birds''. *1883 – Foundation of the

American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

*1883 – Foundation of the

Bombay Natural History Society The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants and pub ...

*1884 – First

International Ornithological Congress International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

held in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, with

Gustav Radde Gustav Ferdinand Richard Radde (27 November 1831 – 2 March 1903) was a German naturalist and Siberian explorer. Radde's warbler and several other species are named after him. Biography Radde was born in Danzig, the son of a schoolmaster. He ...

as President *1884 –

Elliott Coues Elliott Ladd Coues (; September 9, 1842 – December 25, 1899) was an American army surgeon, historian, ornithologist, and author. He led surveys of the Arizona Territory, and later as secretary of the United States Geological and Geograph ...

writes to ''

The Auk ''Ornithology'', formerly ''The Auk'' and ''The Auk: Ornithological Advances'', is a peer-reviewed scientific journal and the official publication of the American Ornithological Society (AOS). It was established in 1884 and is published quarterly. ...

'' beginning a successful campaign to establish

trinomial nomenclature In biology, trinomial nomenclature refers to names for taxa below the rank of species. These names have three parts. The usage is different in zoology and botany. In zoology In zoological nomenclature, a trinomen (), trinominal name, or ternar ...

– the taxonomic classification of subspecies. *1886 – Herman Schalow publishes ''Die Musophagidae''. *1887 – Edgar Leopold Layard publishes ''The Birds of South Africa''. *1888 – Max Fürbringer uses a mathematical analysis to create a classification system for birds that influences avian taxonomy throughout the 20th century *1889 – Foundation of the

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment throu ...

to campaign against the plumage trade *1889 – Ludwig Koch makes the first sound recording of birdsong, that of a captive

white-rumped shama The white-rumped shama (''Copsychus malabaricus'') is a small passerine bird of the family Muscicapidae. Native to densely vegetated habitats in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, its popularity as a cage-bird and songster has led t ...

''Copsychus malabaricus'' *1889 – Pioneer of aviation

Otto Lilienthal Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders, therefore making ...

publishes ''Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation'' *1889 (– 1898) –

Eugene William Oates Eugene William Oates (31 December 184516 November 1911) was an English naturalist and a civil engineer who worked on road projects in Burma. Oates was born in Sicily and educated in Bath, England. For a time he attended Sydney College, Bath an ...

and

William Thomas Blanford William Thomas Blanford (7 October 183223 June 1905) was an English geologist and naturalist. He is best remembered as the editor of a major series on ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma''. Biography Blanford was born ...

publish the bird volumes of ''

The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma ''The Fauna of British India'' (short title) with long titles including ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma'', and ''The Fauna of British India Including the Remainder of the Oriental Region'' is a series of scientific books th ...

''. *1889 – The Imperial Natural History Museum opens in Vienna. The collections are vast, partly due to Empress Maria Theresa having encouraged science in the middle of the previous century, influenced and instructed by her personal physician Gerard van Swieten. *1889 – Charles B. Cory publishes ''The Birds of the West Indies'' *1890 –

Giovanni Batista Grassi Giovanni Battista Grassi (27 March 1854 – 4 May 1925) was an Italian physician and zoologist, best known for his pioneering works on parasitology, especially on malariology. He was Professor of Comparative Zoology at the University of Catani ...

and

Raimondo Feletti Raimondo Feletti (1851-1927) was an Italian physician and zoologist. Feletti worked at a clinic in Catania where a street is named for him "Via Raimondo Feletti".With Giovanni Batista Grassi he published several works on malarial parasites in b ...

discover avian malaria *1892 –

Walter Rothschild Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild, (8 February 1868 – 27 August 1937) was a British banker, politician, zoologist and soldier, who was a member of the Rothschild family. As a Zionist leader, he was present ...

opens a private museum in

Tring Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked t ...

. It housed one of the largest natural history collections in the world. *1894 – Although Ignazio Porro had invented

binoculars Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes ( binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be hel ...

in 1859, high quality binoculars were first on sale in 1894, after the optical designs of

Ernst Abbe Ernst Karl Abbe HonFRMS (23 January 1840 – 14 January 1905) was a German physicist, optical scientist, entrepreneur, and social reformer. Together with Otto Schott and Carl Zeiss, he developed numerous optical instruments. He was also a ...

were combined with the production techniques of

Carl Zeiss Carl Zeiss (; 11 September 1816 – 3 December 1888) was a German scientific instrument maker, optician and businessman. In 1846 he founded his workshop, which is still in business as Carl Zeiss AG. Zeiss gathered a group of gifted practica ...

. Binoculars revolutionised bird identification and field observation. *1895 – Emil Weiske begins collecting in New Guinea. *1896 – Valentin Lvovich Bianchi becomes head of the Department of Ornithology at the Imperial Academy of Sciences of Petrograd. *1899 – Hans Christian Cornelius Mortensen of Viborg, Denmark, is the first ornithologist to undertake systematic large-scale ringing. He uses numbered aluminium rings to mark 165

common starling The common starling or European starling (''Sturnus vulgaris''), also known simply as the starling in Great Britain and Ireland, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is about long and has glossy black plumag ...

s caught in nestboxes

1900–1950

*1900 –

Ernst Hartert Ernst Johann Otto Hartert (29 October 1859 – 11 November 1933) was a widely published German ornithologist. Life and career Hartert was born in Hamburg, Germany on 29 October 1859. In July 1891, he married the illustrator Claudia Bernadine ...

monographs the

Trochilidae Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics ar ...

in volume 9 of the series ''Das Tierreich'' (the Animal Kingdom) published in Berlin by R. Friedländer und Sohn *1900 –

Edmond de Sélys Longchamps Baron Michel Edmond de Selys Longchamps (25 May 1813 – 11 December 1900) was a Belgian Liberal Party politician and scientist. Selys Longchamps has been regarded as the founding figure of odonatology, the study of the dragonflies and dams ...

bird collection given to the

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences The Museum of Natural Sciences of Belgium (french: Muséum des sciences naturelles de Belgique, nl, Museum voor Natuurwetenschappen van België) is a museum dedicated to natural history, located in Brussels, Belgium. The museum is a part of t ...

*1900 – National Audubon Society organises the first Christmas Bird Count *1901 – Johannes Thienemann establishes Rossitten Bird Observatory, the world's first bird observatory *1901 – 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 ...

established *1902 – Wild Birds Protection Act 1902 *1905 – Foundation of the

National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

*1905 – Philogène Auguste Galilée Wytsman commences the serial publications ''Genera Avium'' *1905 –

Joseph Whitaker Joseph Whitaker may refer to: *Joseph Whitaker (industrialist) (1789–1870), American iron master and landowner *Joseph Whitaker (naturalist) (1850–1932), English naturalist *Joseph Whitaker (ornithologist) (1850–1936), Sicilian-English ornith ...

publishes ''The Birds of Tunisia'' *1905–1906 – Bror Yngve Sjöstedt ''Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Schwedischen Zoologischen Expedition nach dem Kilimandjaro, dem Meru und umgebenden Massaisteppen Deutsch-Ostafrikas''. *1907 – The monthly journal '' British Birds'' begins publication *1907 –

Kurt Floericke Kurt Ehrenreich Floericke (also spelled Curt and/or Flöricke; 23 March 1869, in Zeitz – 29 October 1934, in Stuttgart) was a German people, German naturalist and author of numerous popular science books. He also edited the Kosmos magazine in St ...

becomes the editor of ''Kosmos – Die Zeitschrift für alle Freunde der Natur'' or Magazine for the Friends of Nature *1909 – First organised ringing schemes in the UK *1909 – Heligoland Bird Observatory is established on

Heligoland Heligoland (; german: Helgoland, ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , da, Helgoland) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. A part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1890, the islands were historically possessions ...

by Hugo Weigold. Birds are collected in specially designed wire-netting traps, still known today as " Heligoland traps" *1909 – First known mapping census carried out in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England by the

Alexander brothers The Alexander Brothers were an easy-listening folk-music duo from Scotland, who had a long career beginning in the 1950s. Career Thomas Armit "Tom" Alexander (25 June 1934 – 9 January 2020) and John "Jack" Armit Alexander (11 November 1935 � ...

*1909 Ornithologists James Chapin and Herbert Lang begin a six-year biological survey of the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

. *1910–1911 –

Sandy Wollaston Alexander Frederick Richmond "Sandy" Wollaston (22 May 1875, Clifton, Gloucestershire – 3 June 1930, Cambridge) was an English medical doctor, ornithologist, botanist, climber and explorer. After qualifying as a surgeon in 1903, Wollaston deci ...

leads the British Ornithological Union Expedition to

Dutch New Guinea Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea ( nl, Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea, id, Nugini Belanda) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the King ...

*1910 – Museum Oologicum R. Kreuger commenced by Ragnar Kreuger *1910–1913 – Edward Adrian Wilson is the zoologist on the

Terra Nova Expedition The ''Terra Nova'' Expedition, officially the British Antarctic Expedition, was an expedition to Antarctica which took place between 1910 and 1913. Led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the expedition had various scientific and geographical objec ...

. He died with the rest of the party but in 1987 Edward Wilson's ''Birds of the Antarctic'' was edited by Brian Roberts and posthumously published *1912 – A

barn swallow The barn swallow (''Hirundo rustica'') is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. In fact, it appears to have the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometres globally. ...

ringed by James Masefield in Staffordshire, England is recovered in Natal, South Africa *1912 – Giacomo Damiani and

Conte Arrigoni degli Oddi Count Ettore Arrigoni degli Oddi (13 October 1867 – 16 February 1942), was an Italian ornithologist. In 1896 he was elected a member of the British Ornithologists' Union. Ettore Arrigoni degli Oddi was also a "Tring" correspondent. In 1911 he ...

''Birds of the Tuscan Archipelago'' *1914 – The last

passenger pigeon The passenger pigeon or wild pigeon (''Ectopistes migratorius'') is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to North America. Its common name is derived from the French word ''passager'', meaning "passing by", due to the migratory habit ...

dies in

Cincinnati Zoo The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is the sixth oldest zoo in the United States, founded in 1873 and officially opening in 1875. It is located in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. It originally began with in the middle of the ...

*1914 – Emilie Snethlage publishes ''Catálogo das Aves Amazônicas'' *1915 –

Cornell Lab of Ornithology The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a member-supported unit of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which studies birds and other wildlife. It is housed in the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Sapsucker Woods Sanctuar ...

founded *1915 – Eduard Daniel van Oort becomes director of the Rijksmuseum of Natural History in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

. *1916 – Marion Ellis Rowan paints birds on the first of many trips to New Guinea. *1918–1949 –

Carl Eduard Hellmayr Carl Eduard Hellmayr (29 January 1878 in Vienna, Austria – 24 February 1944 in Orselina, Switzerland) was an Austrian ornithologist. Biography Hellmayr was born in Vienna and studied at the University of Vienna, although he did not complete ...

ends the chaos of systematic and nomenclatural confusion created by previous ornithologists working on South American birds in ''Catalogue of Birds of the Americas''. It takes four decades and fifteen volumes. *1921–1932 The Whitney South Sea Expedition visits islands in the south Pacific region collecting over 40,000 bird specimens. The expedition also seals the extinction of the Guadalupe caracara CisticolaExilisBaker

*1922 – Foundation of the International Council for Bird Preservation (now

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

) *1922 – Publication of John Charles Phillips's ''A Natural History of the Ducks'', which provides maps of the known breeding and wintering distributions of ducks throughout the world *1922 William Rowan tests the effect of photoperiodism on the size of gonads in birds *1925 –

Perrine Millais Moncrieff Perrine may refer to: Places * Perrine, Florida, an unincorporated community * Perrine Bridge, Twin Falls, Idaho, United States; named after I. B. Perrine * Perrine's Bridge, near Rifton, New York, United States * Perrine (crater), an impact crater ...

publishes a field guide ''New Zealand Birds and How to Identify Them''. *1927 –

Frédéric Courtois Frédéric Courtois (1860–1928) was a French missionary and naturalist. Frédéric Courtois was a missionary in China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous ...

publishes ''Les oiseaux du musée de Zi-Kia-Wei'' *1928 –

Ernst Mayr Ernst Walter Mayr (; 5 July 1904 – 3 February 2005) was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, philosopher of biology, and historian of science. His w ...

leads the first of three expeditions to New Guinea and the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its ca ...

, during which he discovers many new species *1929 –

publishes ''Ornitologia Italiana''. *1929 –

Friedrich von Lucanus Friedrich von Lucanus full name Friedrich Karl Hermann von Lucanus (20 June 1869, Berlin - 18 February 1947, Buschow) was a German professional soldier (Oberstleutnant a.D.; Dr.h.c.)) ornithologist, ethologist and author of popular scientific an ...

publishes ''Zugvögel und Vogelzug'' (Migratory birds and bird migration) *1930 –

Alexander Wetmore Frank Alexander Wetmore (June 18, 1886 – December 7, 1978) was an American ornithologist and avian paleontologist. He was the sixth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Early life and education The son of a Country Physician, Frank Ale ...

publishes his ''Systematic Classification'' *1931 – Ernst Schüz and Hugo Weigold publish ''Atlas des Vogelzuges'', the first atlas of bird migration *1931 –

Jean Théodore Delacour Jean Théodore Delacour (26 September 1890 – 5 November 1985) was a French ornithologist and aviculturist. He later became American. He was renowned for not only discovering but also rearing some of the rarest birds in the world. He establish ...

publishes ''Les Oiseaux de L'Indochine Française'' *1932 – Foundation of the

British Trust for Ornithology The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is an organisation founded in 1932 for the study of birds in the British Isles. The Prince of Wales has been patron since October 2020. History Beginnings In 1931 Max Nicholson wrote: In the United Stat ...

for the study of birds in Britain *1932 –

Yoshimaro Yamashina Marquis was a Japanese ornithologist. He was the founder of the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology. Biography Yamashina was born in Kōjimachi, Tokyo, the second son of Prince Kikumaro Yamashina and Princess Noriko (Kujo) Yamashina. Throug ...

founds the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology at his home in

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

, Tokyo. His research centred on the use of the

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins ar ...

s of bird to distinguish species (and, later, DNA). *1933 – Nagamichi Kuroda publishes ''Birds of the Island of Java'' (2 Volumes, 1933–36) *1934 –

Roger Tory Peterson Roger Tory Peterson (August 28, 1908 – July 28, 1996) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, illustrator and educator, and one of the founding inspirations for the 20th-century environmental movement. Background Peterson was born in Jame ...

publishes his ''Guide to the Birds'', the first modern field guide *1934–37 – Brian Roberts is the expedition ornithologist on John Rymill's British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) *1935 –

Konrad Lorenz Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (; 7 November 1903 – 27 February 1989) was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch. He is often rega ...

publishes his study of imprinting in young ducklings and goslings *1936 –

Robert Cushman Murphy The whaling ship, ''Daisy'', which Murphy traveled on to the Antarctic Robert Cushman Murphy (April 29, 1887 – March 20, 1973) was an American ornithologist and Lamont Curator of birds at the American Museum of Natural History. He went on nume ...

publishes ''Oceanic Birds of South America''. *1937 –

Margaret Morse Nice Margaret Morse Nice (December 6, 1883 – June 26, 1974) was an American ornithologist, ethologist, and child psychologist who made an extensive study of the life history of the song sparrow and was author of ''Studies in the Life History of the S ...

publishes ''Studies in the Life History of the Song Sparrow'' *1937 –

Theodosius Dobzhansky Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky (russian: Феодо́сий Григо́рьевич Добржа́нский; uk, Теодо́сій Григо́рович Добржа́нський; January 25, 1900 – December 18, 1975) was a prominent ...

publishes '' Genetics and the Origin of Species'' a key work of what is to become known as the modern evolutionary synthesis *1938 – Foundation of the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology *1938–1941 – '' The Handbook of British Birds'' commenced. *1940 –

Claude Gibney Finch-Davies Claude Gibney Finch-Davies (24 May 1875 – 4 August 1920) was a British soldier, ornithologist and painter who produced a series of paintings of birds of South Africa in the early part of the 20th century. Life history He was born in Delh ...

plates held by the

Transvaal Museum The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, formerly the Transvaal Museum, is a natural history museum situated in Pretoria, South Africa. It is located on Paul Kruger Street, between Visagie and Minnaar Streets, opposite the Pretoria City Hal ...

form the basis for

Austin Roberts Austin Roberts may refer to: * Austin Roberts (American football) (born 1995), American football tight end *Austin Roberts (singer) (born 1945), American singer and songwriter *Austin Roberts (zoologist) Austin Roberts (3 January 1883 – 5 May ...

''The Birds of Southern Africa'' *1943 –

David Lack David Lambert Lack FRS (16 July 1910 – 12 March 1973) was a British evolutionary biologist who made contributions to ornithology, ecology, and ethology. His 1947 book, ''Darwin's Finches'', on the finches of the Galapagos Islands was a land ...

makes calculations of bird mortality using reports of ringed birds *1946 –

Peter Scott Sir Peter Markham Scott, (14 September 1909 – 29 August 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott, he took an interest i ...

founds the

Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is an international wildfowl and wetland conservation charity in the United Kingdom. Its patron is Charles III, and its president is Kate Humble. History The WWT was founded in 1946 by the ornithologist ...

Slimbridge Slimbridge is a village and civil parish near Dursley in Gloucestershire, England. It is best known as the home of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust's Slimbridge Reserve which was started by Sir Peter Scott. Canal and Patch Bridge The Gloucest ...

*1948 –

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

of Threatened Species founded as conservation concerns grow.

1950–2000

*1950 – Rocket nets developed by the Wildfowl Trust for catching geese *1950 –

Willi Hennig Emil Hans Willi Hennig (20 April 1913 – 5 November 1976) was a German biologist and zoologist who is considered the founder of phylogenetic systematics, otherwise known as cladistics. In 1945 as a prisoner of war, Hennig began work on his theo ...

publishes ''Grundzüge einer Theorie der phylogenetischen Systematik'' (Basic outline of a theory of

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

systematics). This work, at first obscure and controversial, founds

cladistics Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived ch ...

and is mainstream by 1980. *1951–1954 – The six volume ''Birds of the Soviet Union'' by GP Dementev and NA Gladkov published *1953 –

Niko Tinbergen Nikolaas "Niko" Tinbergen (; ; 15 April 1907 – 21 December 1988) was a Dutch biologist and ornithologist who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Karl von Frisch and Konrad Lorenz for their discoveries concerning the ...

publishes ''The Herring Gull's World'' *1953 – Ornithologist

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonical ...

composes the orchestral work ''

Réveil des Oiseaux The Réveil (French for "revival", "awakening") of 1814 was a revival movement within the Swiss Reformed Church of western Switzerland and some Reformed communities in southeastern France. The supporters were also called pejoratively ''momiers''. T ...

''—based on birdsong in the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Fre ...

. *1954 – Protection of Birds Act 1954 in the UK prohibits the collection of birds' eggs *1954 – The Heinz Sielmann film ''Zimmerleute des Waldes'' (Carpenters of the forest) shown on UK television with the title ''Woodpecker''. It was a huge success. *1954 – First edition of ''Avian Physiology'' published by Paul D. Sturkie. The work related mainly to domestic birds and especially

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quail ...

, but later editions of the work, now titled Sturkie's ''Avian Physiology'' include studies of wild birds. *1954 –

Arthur Cain Arthur James Cain FRS (25 July 1921 – 20 August 1999) was a British evolutionary biologist and ecologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1989. Life Arthur James Cain was awarded an open scholarship in 1939 ( Demyship) to ...

refers to the "circular overlaps" of Mayr (1942) as

ring species In biology, a ring species is a connected series of neighbouring populations, each of which interbreeds with closely sited related populations, but for which there exist at least two "end" populations in the series, which are too distantly relate ...

in ''Animal species and evolution' *1954 –

Richard Meinertzhagen Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, CBE, DSO (3 March 1878 – 17 June 1967) was a British soldier, intelligence officer, and ornithologist. He had a decorated military career spanning Africa and the Middle East. He was credited with creating and ...

publishes ''Birds of Arabia'' based on the work of

George Latimer Bates George Latimer Bates (March 21, 1863, Abingdon, Illinois US – January 31, 1940 Chelmsford UK), LL.D., M.B.O.U. was an American naturalist. Bates studied at Knox College, Galesburg and at the Chicago Theological Seminary and in 1895 visited ...

*1956 – First use of mist nets (invented in Japan) in the UK to trap birds *1957 – Frances and Frederick Hamerstrom publish ''Guide to

Prairie Chicken ''Tympanuchus'' is a small genus of birds in the grouse family. They are commonly referred to as prairie chickens. Taxonomy The genus ''Tympanuchus'' was introduced in 1841 by the German zoologist Constantin Wilhelm Lambert Gloger for the great ...

Management''. The ecological scatter pattern approach has broad significance in bird

habitat conservation Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in ter ...

*1957 –

G. Evelyn Hutchinson George Evelyn Hutchinson (January 30, 1903 – May 17, 1991) was a British ecologist sometimes described as the "father of modern ecology." He contributed for more than sixty years to the fields of limnology, systems ecology, radiation ecolog ...

develops the niche concept *1959 – Charles Vaurie publishes ''The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference'' *1959 – Humphrey–Parkes terminology for the description of

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

introduced *1960 – Max Schönwetter dies. His monumental ''Handbuch der Oologie'' is taken over by Wilhelm Meise *1961 – Nature photographer Sakae Tamura publishes ''Tamagawa no tori'', (Birds of River Tama, Tokyo) *1961 – Eric Hosking publishes ''Bird Photography as a Hobby'', popularising bird photography. *1961 – William Homan Thorpe publishes ''Bird-Song. The biology of vocal communication and expression in birds'' pioneering the use of sound spectrography in bird studies. *1962 –

Rachel Carson Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservation movement, conservationist whose influential book ''Silent Spring'' (1962) and other writings are credited with advancing the ...

publishes ''

Silent Spring ''Silent Spring'' is an environmental science book by Rachel Carson. Published on September 27, 1962, the book documented the environmental harm caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Carson accused the chemical industry of spreading d ...

'', describing the ecological dangers of pesticides. *1963 (−1968) David Armitage Bannerman begins publication of ''The Birds of the Atlantic Islands'' *1964 – The relationship between birds and dinosaurs is re-examined in what becomes known as the dinosaur renaissance *1967 – Publication of ''Radar Ornithology'' by Eric Eastwood *1967 – Edward O. Wilson and Robert H. MacArthur publish '' The Theory of Island Biogeography'' *1967 –

Birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predato ...

aviary opens at Zoo de La Flèche *1968–1972 – First national breeding bird atlas project conducted in Britain and Ireland *1969 – Robert T. Paine first uses the term

keystone species A keystone species is a species which has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance, a concept introduced in 1969 by the zoologist Robert T. Paine. Keystone species play a critical role in maintaini ...

*1970 – The ''Atlas of Breeding Birds of the West Midlands'' by Lord and Munns, based on field work by members of the West Midland Bird Club, published by Collins, is the first to use systematic grid-based method for gathering of information. *1970 – Derek Ratcliffe discovers changes attributable to pesticides in egg breakage frequency and eggshell thickness in some British birds and publishes a paper so titled in the '' Journal of Applied Ecology'' *1971–1973 – Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke combines many biological concepts in ''Die Lebensformen: Grundlagen zu einer universell gültigen biologischen Theorie'' in English, Life Forms: The basis for a universally valid biological theory. Birds, and Peruvian or South American birds especially figure prominently. *1972–75 – Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia (1967–1972) is translated into English. *1975 –

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on W ...

(The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat) comes into force. *1975 – Rara aves Elizabeth V. Kozlova publishes ''The birds of zonal steppes and deserts of Central Asia'' *1975 – Victor Hasselblad tests the Hasselblad AB 2000 camera at Nidingen, the only place in Sweden where the

black-legged kittiwake The black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Larus tridactylus''. The English ...

nests. *1976 – Publication of national bird atlases for Great Britain and Ireland, France and Denmark *1977 –

EURING European Engineer (EUR ING) is an international professional qualification and title for highly qualified engineers used in over 32 European countries. Contemporary EUR ING engineers are degree-qualified and have gained the highest level of profess ...

Data Bank (EDB) was established as a central repository for European ringing recovery records. *1977 – Publication of the first volume of '' The Birds of the Western Palearctic'' *1981 – Sibley and Ahlquist use DNA-DNA hybridisation to determine genetic similarity between species, leading to the

Sibley–Ahlquist taxonomy of birds The Sibley–Ahlquist taxonomy is a bird taxonomy proposed by Charles Sibley and Jon E. Ahlquist. It is based on DNA–DNA hybridization studies conducted in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. DNA–DNA hybridization is among a class of ...

. *1981 –

Cyril A. Walker Cyril Alexander Walker (8 February 1939 – 6 May 2009) was a British palaeontologist, curator of fossil birds in the Natural History Museum. He was also interested in fossil turtles. book, '' Smithsonian Handbook of Fossils''. He has also cont ...

describes the ''

Enantiornithes The Enantiornithes, also known as enantiornithines or enantiornitheans in literature, are a group of extinct avialans ("birds" in the broad sense), the most abundant and diverse group known from the Mesozoic era. Almost all retained teeth and cl ...

'', a new subclass of fossil birds alker CA (1981) New subclass of birds from the Cretaceous of South America. Nature 292:51–53.*1984 – Publication of ''The Atlas of Australian Birds'' *1984 –

Umbrella species Umbrella species are species selected for making conservation-related decisions, typically because protecting these species indirectly protects the many other species that make up the ecological community of its habitat (the umbrella effect). Speci ...

defined. *1986 –

Jürgen Haffer Jürgen Haffer (9 December 1932 in Berlin – 26 April 2010 in Essen) was a German ornithologist, biogeographer, and geologist. He is most remembered for his theory of Amazonian forest refugia during the Pleistocene that would have contributed to ...

combines allopatry, parapatry, refugia and superspecies in a holistic theory explaining

speciation Speciation is the evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become distinct species. The biologist Orator F. Cook coined the term in 1906 for cladogenesis, the splitting of lineages, as opposed to anagenesis, phyletic evolution withi ...

. *1987 – Sociedad de Ornitología Neotropical (SON) (

Neotropical Ornithological Society The Neotropical Ornithological Society, or Sociedad de Ornitología Neotropical, is an ornithological non-profit organization, with its principal objective the study and conservation of Neotropical birds and their habitats, including both their bree ...

) founded. *1990 – Discovery of the first poisonous bird, the

hooded pitohui The hooded pitohui (''Pitohui dichrous'') is a species of bird in the genus ''Pitohui (genus), Pitohui'' found in New Guinea. It was long thought to be a whistler (Pachycephalidae) but is now known to be in the Old World oriole family (biology) ...

(''Pitohui dichrous'') by Jack Dumbacher *1990 – Leo Surenovich Stepanyan publishes ''Conspectus of the ornithological fauna of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

'' *1990 –

Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History The Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) is a national centre for information, education and research in ornithology and natural history in India. It was inspired by and named in honour of Salim Ali, the leading pioneer ...

founded *1991 – First new species described without a skin as a

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

. The Bulo Burti boubou (''Laniarius liberatus'') of

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

described on basis of DNA sequence from a feather. *1991 – ''A color atlas of avian anatomy'' by John McLelland explores the external features, skeleton, and body systems of birds *1992 – Publication of the ''

Handbook of Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. Th ...

'' series starts *1992 – Avibase database commenced by

Bird Studies Canada Birds Canada (formerly Bird Studies Canada) is Canada's national bird conservation organization. Birds Canada began as the ''Long Point Bird Observatory'' in 1960, changing its name in 1998 to reflect the growing national scope of its research p ...

. At 2010 the database holds 5 million records of 10,000 species (22,000 subspecies) and has online World checklists, taxonomic notes and multilingual synonyms. *1993 – ''

Vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

, brain, and behavior in birds'' by H Philip Zeigler and Hans-Joachim Bischof published *1994 – Jonathan Weiner publishes ''

The Beak of the Finch ''The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time'' () is a 1994 nonfiction book about evolutionary biology, written by Jonathan Weiner. It won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. In 2014, a substantially unchanged 20th- ...

: A Story of Evolution in Our Time'' *1995 – Hou Lianhai describes the ''

Confuciusornis ''Confuciusornis'' is a genus of basal crow-sized avialan from the Early Cretaceous Period of the Yixian and Jiufotang Formations of China, dating from 125 to 120 million years ago. Like modern birds, ''Confuciusornis'' had a toothless beak, b ...

'', a new subclass of birds, from a fossil found in the Jinzhou market, Liaoning, China *1997 – Use of stable hydrogen isotope signatures in feathers to identify origin of birds. *1997 – The EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds published *1998 – Discovery of gut reduction before migration in godwits. *1998 – Alison J. Stattersfield, Michael J. Crosby, Adrian J. Long, and David C. Wege publish '' Endemic Bird Areas of the World: Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation'' *1998 – '' The Life of Birds'', a BBC

nature documentary A nature documentary or wildlife documentary is a genre of documentary film or series about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on video taken in their natural habitat but also often including footage of t ...

series written and presented by

David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...

, is transmitted to millions of viewers in the UK. *1998 –

Katala Foundation Katala Foundation, Inc. (KF) is a non-profit, non-stock and non-governmental organization that is active in protecting and conserving wildlife, particularly the critically endangered Philippine cockatoo or red-vented cockatoo (scientific name: ...

commences the Philippine Cockatoo Conservation Programme. *1999 – Alan Feduccia publishes ''The Origin and Evolution of Birds'' arguing against the view that birds originated from and are deeply nested within

Theropoda Theropoda (; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally ca ...

(and are therefore living theropod dinosaurs).

21st century

*2000 – Harold Lisle Gibbs, Michael D. Sorenson, Karen Marchetti, Nick Davies, M. de L. Brooke and Hiroshi Nakamura provide genetic evidence for female host-specific races of the

common cuckoo The common cuckoo (''Cuculus canorus'') is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals. This species is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. It ...

*2002 – Peter Bennett and Ian Owens publish ''

Evolutionary Ecology Evolutionary ecology lies at the intersection of ecology and evolutionary biology. It approaches the study of ecology in a way that explicitly considers the evolutionary histories of species and the interactions between them. Conversely, it can ...

of Birds: Life Histories, Mating systems, and Extinction'' *2003 – Michael D. Sorenson, Elen Oneal, Jaime García-Moreno and David P. Mindell discuss the enigmatic

hoatzin The hoatzin ( ) or hoactzin ( ), (''Opisthocomus hoazin''), is the only species in the order Opisthocomiformes. It is a species of tropical bird found in swamps, riparian forests, and mangroves of the Amazon and the Orinoco basins in South ...

without reaching a conclusion in a paper entitled "More Taxa, More Characters: The Hoatzin Problem Is Still Unresolved." *2004 – Thomas J.Hopp and Mark J. discover oviraptorosaur specimens in a nesting position similar to that of modern birds. The arms of these specimens are positioned in such a way that they could perfectly cover their eggs if they had small wings and a substantial covering of feathers. *2004 – Proposal to identify bird species through DNA sequence by Hebert PDN ''et al.''PLoS Biol 2(10): e312 using method termed as

DNA barcoding DNA barcoding is a method of species identification using a short section of DNA from a specific gene or genes. The premise of DNA barcoding is that by comparison with a reference library of such DNA sections (also called " sequences"), an indi ...

. *2004 – Sandy Podulka, Ronald W. Rohrbaugh, Jr., and Rick Bonney edit second edition of ''Handbook of Bird Biology''. *2005 – Sightings of

ivory-billed woodpecker The ivory-billed woodpecker (''Campephilus principalis'') is a possibly extinct woodpecker that is native to the bottomland hardwood forests and temperate coniferous forests of the Southern United States and Cuba. Habitat destruction and hunting ...

, previously believed extinct. *2005 –

Douglas Warrick Douglas Warrick is a professor in biophysics at the zoology department of Oregon State University, specializing in the study of functional/ecological morphology, aerodynamics, and the evolution of vertebrate flight, working with many bird species, ...

and his research associates publish ''Aerodynamics of the hovering hummingbird'' in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...

''. *2005 – Pamela C. Rasmussen and

John C. Anderton ''Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide'' by Pamela C. Rasmussen and John C. Anderton is a two-volume ornithological handbook, covering the birds of South Asia, published in 2005 (second edition in 2012) by the Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Ed ...

publish ''

Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide ''Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide'' by Pamela C. Rasmussen and John C. Anderton is a two-volume ornithological handbook, covering the birds of South Asia, published in 2005 (second edition in 2012) by the Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Ed ...

'' *2011 – Longrich and Olson detail wing modifications in the extinct Jamaican flightless ibis and speculate that the wings were used as weapons *2014 – A genomic study of 48 taxa divided

Neoaves Neoaves is a clade that consists of all modern birds (Neornithes or Aves) with the exception of Paleognathae (ratites and kin) and Galloanserae (ducks, chickens and kin). Almost 95% of the roughly 10,000 known species of extant birds belong to ...

into two main clades,

Columbea Columbea is a clade suggested by genome analysis that contains Columbiformes (pigeons and doves), Pteroclidae (sandgrouse), Mesitornithidae (mesites) and Mirandornithes Mirandornithes () is a clade that consists of flamingos and grebes. Man ...

and Passerea.

Notes

References

* Boubier, Maurice. (1925) ''L’Évolution de l’ornithologie''. Nouvelle collection scientifique, Paris. * Chansigaud, Valerie. (2010) ''The History of Ornithology New Holland''. (First published in France in 2007 as ''Histoire de l'ornithologie'') * Farber, P. L. (1977) The development of taxidermy and the history of ornithology. ''Isis'' 68: 550–566. * Gebhardt, Ludwig (2006) Die Ornithologen Mitteleuropas. Aula-Verlag, Wiebelsheim. * Haffer J. (2001) Ornithological research traditions in central Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries. '' Journal of Ornithology'' 142: 27–93 * Robin, Libby. (2001) ''The Flight of the Emu: a hundred years of Australian ornithology 1901–2001''. Carlton, Vic. Melbourne University Press. * Stresemann, Erwin. (1975) ''Ornithology: From Aristotle to the Present'' Harvard University Press. Translation of Erwin Stresemann ''Entwicklung der Ornithologie'' 1951.
Neotropical Ornithology, Then and Now
Digital version of Francois Vuilleumier's History of South American ornithology published in The Auk
Roselaar Inventory of Major European Bird Collections

External links

Timeline of ornithology by Albert Masi
History of ornithology in Colombia
">Colombia">History of ornithology in Colombia
* :la:Categoria:Taxa secundum annos digesta {{in lang, la
ZinRus
Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Science.
Goettingen University
Digitised early literature
Taxonix
links to works online via authors
Zoologica

Göttingen State and University Library The Göttingen State and University Library (german: Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen or SUB Göttingen) is the library for Göttingen University as well as for the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and is the state ...

* Ornithology, Timeline of History of zoology