Walter Goodfellow (1866–1953) was a British zoological collector and

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

Career

Goodfellow began his career as a wildlife collector by collecting specimens for

museums A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

, but later concentrated on capturing live birds for private aviaries. He took great care of his caged birds, often releasing those which appeared distressed, and refused to participate in the extensive trade in dead birds for women's fashions. Over forty years of collecting expeditions he travelled through

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, the

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New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and Melville Island, off northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

.Mearns & Mearns (1998), p.345.

Mikado pheasant

Goodfellow's best-known ornithological achievement was the scientific discovery of the

Mikado pheasant The Mikado pheasant (''Syrmaticus mikado'') is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. Sometimes considered an unofficial ''national bird'' of Taiwan (along with the Swinhoe's pheasant and Taiwa ...

in the central mountain ranges of Taiwan and its introduction to

aviculture Aviculture is the practice of keeping and breeding birds, especially of wild birds in captivity. Types There are various reasons that people get involved in aviculture. Some people breed birds to preserve a species. Some people breed parrots a ...

. In about 1906 he secured the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, 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 a ...

, comprising two long black tail feathers obtained from one of his

porters Porters may refer to: * Porters, Virginia, an unincorporated community in Virginia, United States * Porters, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community in Wisconsin, United States * Porters Ski Area, a ski resort in New Zealand * ''Porters'' (TV series ...

who was wearing them in a

head-dress Headgear, headwear, or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, ...

. On a later visit to Taiwan he obtained eleven live birds, eight males and three females, which were taken to Britain and bred successfully in captivity.Beebe (1990).

Recognition

Birds and other animals named for Goodfellow include the

Apo myna The Apo myna (''Goodfellowia miranda'') is a species of starling in the starling family Sturnidae. The species is also known as the Mount Apo starling or the Mount Apo king starling. It is the only member of the genus ''Goodfellowia''. It is e ...

(''Goodfellowia miranda''), Taiwan firecrest (''Regulus goodfellowi''), the

Taiwan shortwing The Taiwan shortwing (''Brachypteryx goodfellowi'') is a species of chat. This species is now classified in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to Taiwan. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest Montane ecosy ...

(''Brachypteryx goodfellowi''), slaty-backed jungle-flycatcher (''Rhinomyias goodfellowi''),

black-masked white-eye The Mindanao white-eye (''Heleia goodfellowi''), also known as the black-masked white-eye, is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. The specific name (zoology), specific epithet honours British zoological collector Walter Goodfellow. It ...

(''Lophozosterops goodfellowi''), Goodfellow's tuco-tuco (''Ctenomys goodfellowi''), and

Goodfellow's tree-kangaroo Goodfellow's tree-kangaroo (''Dendrolagus goodfellowi''), also called the ornate tree-kangaroo, is an endangered, long-tailed, bear-like mammal native to rainforests of New Guinea. Like most tree-kangaroos (genus ''Dendrolagus''), it lives in th ...

(''Dendrolagus goodfellowi''). The lyre-tailed king bird of paradise was described by Ogilvie-Grant in 1907 with the

binomen 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, bot ...

of ''Cicinnurus goodfellowi'', though it has subsequently been found to be a hybrid.

References

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