David William Snow (30 September 1924 – 4 February 2009) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

ornithologist born in

Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in length, and almost 1 mile (1.5 km) at its wides ...

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

Career and personal life

He won a scholarship to Eton and started there in 1938 just before his 14th birthday. He won a scholarship to study classics at New College,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

but was called up to serve in the navy in April 1943 and served on several ships including

destroyers In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

frigates A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

, and

sloops A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...

. After the end of

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

, he spent a year sailing through the Far East and to Australia. In 1946 he returned to Oxford and switched from classics to the study of zoology, earning a D.Phil degree in 1953. In 1958, David married Barbara Kathleen Whitaker, who was the warden of Lundy Island. Barbara Snow was also a noted ornithologist and a geologist. From 1957 to 1961 the Snows worked for the

New York Zoological Society New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

at the society's

research centre A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often im ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. Here they made detailed studies of the

oilbird The oilbird (''Steatornis caripensis''), locally known as the , is a bird species found in the northern areas of South America including the Caribbean island of Trinidad. It is the only species in the genus ''Steatornis'', the family Steatornith ...

s (''Steatornis caripensis'') and the fascinating and very complex courtship dances of the white-bearded manakin (''Manacus manacus'') and the golden-headed manakin (''Pipra erythrocephala''). From 1963 to 1964 he was the Director of the

Charles Darwin Research Station Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

(CDRS) in the Galapagos Islands. He was Director of CDRS during the landmark expedition mounted from the University of California at Berkeley called the Galápagos International Scientific Project (GISP). He was also Director of Research for the British Trust for Ornithology from 1964 to 1968, and from 1968 to 1984 he worked at 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. ...

. From 1987 to 1990 he was president of the British Ornithologists' Union. David Snow edited ''

The Ibis ''Ibis'' (formerly ''The Ibis''), subtitled ''the International Journal of Avian Science'', is the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the British Ornithologists' Union. It was established in 1859. Topics covered include ecology, conservation, be ...

'', ''Bird Study'' and the ''

Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club The ''Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club'' is an ornithological journal published by the British Ornithologists' Club (BOC). It is cited as ''Bull. B. O. C.'' Many descriptions of birds new to science have been published in the bull ...

''. Snow is commemorated in the name of the

cotinga The cotingas are a large family, Cotingidae, of suboscine passerine birds found in Central America and tropical South America. Cotingas are birds of forests or forest edges, that are primary frugivorous. They all have broad bills with hooked t ...

genus ''

Snowornis ''Snowornis'' is a genus of birds in the family Cotingidae. The species were formerly included in the genus '' Lipaugus'', The genus ''Snowornis'' was introduced in 2001 by Richard Prum with the grey-tailed piha as the type species. The name ...

'' and the critically endangered Alagoas antwren (''Myrmotherula snowi'').

"With his wife, Barbara, Snow made a huge contribution to our understanding of the evolutionary consequences of fruit-eating in birds. In a series of studies of tropical birds, he theorised that the colourful plumage and elaborate mating rituals of male manakins and similar species derived from the fact that copious supplies of fruit enabled the birds to secure adequate daily calories with only a small percentage of their time devoted to feeding. This left them plenty of opportunity to develop elaborate rituals to impress the dowdier females. In England, the Snows spent five years carrying out systematic observations of fruit-eating birds in a small area on the Hertfordshire-Buckinghamshire borders, publishing their results in the seminal Birds and Berries (1988)."

Following Barbara's death in 2007, he published ''Birds in Our Life'', an account of their lives and their close ornithological partnership. Snow died at age 84 and is survived by two sons.

Awards

In 1972 David and his wife Barbara were joint recipients of the American Ornithologists' Union's

Brewster Medal The William Brewster Memorial Award, usually referred to as the Brewster Medal, is awarded by the American Ornithologists' Union and is named for ornithology, ornithologist William Brewster (ornithologist), William Brewster. It is given to an author ...

.The Times of London obituary
/ref> He was elected president of the British Ornithologists' Union and in 1982 was awarded its Godman-Salvin Medal for outstanding contributions to ornithology.

Works

* Snow, D.W. (1953). "The migration of the Greenland Wheatear." ''Ibis'' 95(2):376–378 * Snow, D.W. (1958). "The breeding of the Blackbird ''Turdus merula'' at Oxford." ''Ibis'' 100(1):1-30 * Snow, D.W. (1958). ''A Study of Blackbirds.'' George Allen and Unwin, London. * Snow, D.W. (1961). "The displays of the manakins ''Pipra pipra'' and ''Tyranneutes virescens''." ''Ibis'' 103A(1):110–113 * Snow, D.W. (1961). "The Natural History of the

Oilbird The oilbird (''Steatornis caripensis''), locally known as the , is a bird species found in the northern areas of South America including the Caribbean island of Trinidad. It is the only species in the genus ''Steatornis'', the family Steatornith ...

,''Steatornis caripensis'', in Trinidad, W.I. Part 1. General Behaviour and Breeding Habits." ''Zoologica, Scientific Contributions of the New York Zoological Society'' 46(3):27–48 * Snow, D.W. (1962). "The Natural History of the

,''Steatornis caripensis'', in Trinidad, W.I. Part 2. Population, Breeding Ecology and Food." ''Zoologica, Scientific Contributions of the New York Zoological Society'' 47(16):199–221 * Snow, D.W. (1963). "The display of the Orange-headed manakin." ''Condor'' 65(1) * Snow, D.W. & Snow, B.K. (1963). "Breeding and the annual cycle in three Trinidad thrushes." ''Wilson Bulletin'' 75(1) * Snow, D.W. & Snow, B.K. (1964). ''Breeding seasons and annual cycles of Trinidad Land-Birds''. aperback* Snow, D.W. (1965). "The breeding of the

Red-billed Tropicbird The red-billed tropicbird (''Phaethon aethereus'') is a tropicbird, one of three closely related species of seabird of tropical oceans. Superficially resembling a tern in appearance, it has mostly white plumage with some black markings on the wi ...

in the Galapagos Islands." ''Condor'' 67(3) * Snow, D.W. (1965). "The breeding of the Audubon's Shearwater ''Puffinus lherminieri'' in the Galapagos." ''The Auk'' 82(4) * Snow, D.W. (1966). '"Annual cycle of the

Yellow Warbler The yellow warbler (''Setophaga petechia'') is a New World warbler species. Yellow warblers are the most widespread species in the diverse genus ''Setophaga'', breeding in almost the whole of North America, the Caribbean, and down to northern S ...

in the Galapagos." ''J. Field Ornithology'' 37(1) * Snow, D.W. & Snow, B.K. (1966). "The breeding season of the

Madeiran Storm-petrel The band-rumped storm petrel, Madeiran storm petrel, or Harcourt's storm petrel (''Hydrobates castro'') is of the storm petrel family Hydrobatidae. Description The band-rumped storm petrel is 19–21 cm in length with a 43–46 cm wi ...

(Oceanodromo castro) in the Galapagos." ''Ibis'' 108(2):283–284 * Snow, D.W. & Snow, B.K. (1967). "The breeding cycle of the

Swallow-tailed Gull The swallow-tailed gull (''Creagrus furcatus'') is an equatorial seabird in the gull family, Laridae. It is the only species in the genus ''Creagrus'', which derives from the Latin ''Creagra'' and the Greek ''kreourgos'' which means butcher, al ...

(''Creagrus furcatus'')." ''Ibis'' 109(1):14–24 * Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1968). "Behavior of the Swallow-tailed Gull of the Galapagos." ''Condor'' 70(3): * Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1969). "Observations on the

Lava Gull The lava gull (''Leucophaeus fuliginosus''), also known as the dusky gull, is a medium-sized gull and a member of the "hooded gull" group. It is most closely related to the Laughing gull and Franklin's gull and is the rarest gull in the world. It ...

(''Larus fuliginosus''). ''Ibis'' 111(1):30–35 * Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1971). "The feeding ecology of tanagers and honeycreepers in Trinidad." ''The Auk'' 88(2) * Snow, D.W. (1971). "Display of the Pompadour Cotinga ''Xipholena punicea''." ''Ibis'' 113(1):102–104 * Snow, D.W. (1971). "Evolutionary aspects of fruit-eating by birds." ''Ibis'' 113(2):194–202 * Snow, D.W. (1971). "Social organization of the Blue-backed Manakin." ''Wilson Bulletin'' 83(1) * Snow, D.W. & Goodwin, D. (1974). "The Black-and-gold Cotinga." ''The Auk'' 91(2) * Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1974). "Breeding of the

Green-bellied Hummingbird The green-bellied hummingbird (''Saucerottia viridigaster'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela.HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the B ...

." ''The Auk'' 91(3) * Snow, D.W. (1976). "The relationship between climate and annual cycles in the ''cotingidae''." ''Ibis'' 118(3):366–401 * Snow, D.W. (1976). "The web of adaptation: bird studies in the American tropics." Collins, London * Snow, D.W. (co-editor) (1978–1997). ''Handbook of the Birds of the Western Palearctic''. Edited Stanley Cramp ''et al.''; Oxford University Press) (HBWP) (Widely known as the ''BWP''). * Snow, D.W. ed. (1978). ''An Atlas of Speciation in African Non-Passerine Birds''. British Museum Press. . * Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1979). "The Ochre-bellied Flycatcher and the Evolution of Lek Behavior." ''Condor'' 81(3) * Snow, D.W. (1982). ''The Cotingas: Bellbirds, Umbrella birds and their allies.'' British Museum Press. * Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1984). "Long-term defence of fruit by Mistle Thrushes Turdus viscivorus." ''Ibis'' 126(1):39–49 * Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1985). "Display and related behavior of male Pin-tailed Manakins." ''Wilson Bulletin'' 97(3): * Snow, D.W. (1987) ''The Blackbird.'' Shire Natural History. . * Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1988). ''Birds and berries: a study of an ecological interaction.'' Poyser, London. . * Snow, D.W. ed. (1992) ''Birds, Discovery and Conservation: 100 years of the British Ornithologists' Club'' (editor), Helm Information * Willis, E.O.; Snow, D.W.; Stotz, D.F. & Parker III, T.A. (1993) '' Olive-sided Flycatchers in Southeastern Brazil'' Wilson Bulletin 105(1): * Snow, D.W. et al. (1998).''The Birds of the Western Palearctic: 2 Volume Set: Volume 1, Non-Passerines; Volume 2, Passerines'' bridged, Box set ardcover Oxford University Press, US; Concise edition. . * Snow, D.W. (editor) and Stanley Cramp (author). ''The Complete Birds of the Western Palearctic.'' ardcover Oxford University Press (Sd.). Cdr edition. . * Prum, Richard O. & Snow, David W. (2003) ''Manakins'' in Perrins, Christopher ''The Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds''. Firefly Books. pp. 434–437. . * Snow, D.W. (2008a) ''Obituary – Snow, B.K.'' Ibis 150(3):662–663. * Snow, D.W. (2008b). ''Birds in Our Life''. William Sessions Limited. (pbk). An autobiography.

Footnotes

References

*Beolens, B. & Watkins, M. - ''Whose Bird?''

External links