The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s (
ornithology
Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...
) around the world in order to understand their
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
and aid their
conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor
Alfred Newton
Alfred Newton Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE (11 June 18297 June 1907) was an England, English zoologist and ornithologist. Newton was Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Cambridge University from 1866 to 1907. Among his numerous public ...
,
Henry Baker Tristram
Henry Baker Tristram FRS (11 May 1822 – 8 March 1906) was an English clergyman, Bible scholar, traveller and ornithologist. As a parson-naturalist he was an early, but short-lived, supporter of Darwinism, attempting to reconcile evolution an ...
and other scientists. Its quarterly journal, ''
Ibis
The ibis () (collective plural ibises; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...
'', has been published continuously since 1859.
The Records Committee (BOURC) is a committee of the BOU established to maintain the British List, the official list of birds recorded in Great Britain.
BOU is headquartered in
Peterborough
Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...
and is a
registered charity
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definitio ...
in England & Wales and Scotland.
Objectives and activities
* Publishes ''
Ibis
The ibis () (collective plural ibises; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...
'' as a leading international journal of ornithological science.
* Organizes a program of meetings and conferences.
* Awards grants and bursaries for ornithological research.
* Encourages liaison between those actively engaged in ornithological research.
* Provides a representative body of the scientific community able to provide ornithological information and advice to the government and other policy makers.
* Maintains and publishes the official list of birds recorded in Britain – The British List.
Records committee
The British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (BOURC) is the recognized national
bird records committee for
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
. It maintains a list of birds in Britain. Its findings are published in ''
Ibis
The ibis () (collective plural ibises; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...
'', the house journal of its parent body, the British Ornithologists' Union (BOU). From time to time, BOURC re-reviews records that it has previously accepted to ensure they are acceptable in light of improved knowledge of the species in question.
The Committee does not assess records of birds from Ireland; that task is carried out by the
Irish Rare Birds Committee, which publishes its decisions in ''
Irish Birds''. For many years, records of IRBC-assessed rarities were included in the BOURC's reports, but this ceased in 2002, at the request of IRBC.
BOURC is widely recognized as maintaining the most authoritative list of birds in Britain.
BOURC has a chairman, a secretary and a number of voting members. It previously had a taxonomic subcommittee set up to advise on taxonomic matters, but the disbanding of this subcommittee was announced on 6 November 2015; the BOU now contemplates relying entirely on one of the available global avian taxonomies with a view to adopting a single system for all its activities.
Committee and taxonomic reports
The Committee publishes an annual report in ''
Ibis
The ibis () (collective plural ibises; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...
'' (the BOU's international journal of avian science). All reports can be accessed via th
British List pages of the BOU website
Previously, the Committee's Taxonomic Sub-committee also published regular reports, also in ''
Ibis
The ibis () (collective plural ibises; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...
'', and these too can be accessed via th
British List pages of the BOU website
The Druridge Bay curlew
Following a detailed review by the
British Birds Rarities Committee into the controversial identification of a
curlew
The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been infl ...
seen at
Druridge Bay in
Northumberland
Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...
in 1998, which came to the conclusion that it was, as had been believed by many observers, a first-summer
slender-billed curlew, this identification was accepted by BOURC, leading to the addition of this species to the British List.
[Steele, Jimmy and Didier Vangeluwe (2002) From the Rarities Committee's files: the Slender-billed Curlew at Druridge Bay, Northumberland, in 1998 '' British Birds'' 95(6):279-299] A subsequent review of the record overturned the original decision ''
Ibis
The ibis () (collective plural ibises; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...
'' 156 :236-242.
Awards and lectures
The following are awarded:
*
Godman-Salvin Medal
*
Union Medal (known as the "Janet Kear Union Medal" from 2019)
*
Alfred Newton Lecture
List of presidents
* 1858–1867:
Henry Maurice Drummond-Hay (1814–1896)
* 1867–1896:
Lord Lilford (1833–1896)
* 1896–1913:
Frederick DuCane Godman
Frederick DuCane Godman (15 January 1834 – 19 February 1919) was an English lepidopterist, entomology, entomologist and ornithology, ornithologist. He was one of the twenty founding members of the British Ornithologists' Union. Along with Osb ...
(1834–1919)
* 1913–1918:
Robert George Wardlaw-Ramsay (1852–1921)
* 1918–1921:
William Eagle Clarke
Dr William Eagle Clarke ISO FLS FRSE PBOU Doctor of Laws, LL.D. (16 March 1853 – 10 May 1938) was a British ornithologist.
Life
Clarke was born in Leeds where his father William Clarke was a solicitor and educated at the Grammar School and at ...
(1853–1938)
* 1921–1922:
Henry John Elwes (1846–1922)
* 1923–1928:
Lord Walter Rothschild (1868–1937)
* 1928–1933:
William Lutley Sclater (1863–1944)
* 1933–1938:
Harry Witherby (1873–1943)
* 1938–1943:
Sir Norman Boyd Kinnear (1882–1957)
* 1943–1948:
Percy Roycroft Lowe (1870–1948)
* 1948–1955:
Sir Arthur Landsborough Thomson (1890–1977)
* 1955–1960:
William Homan Thorpe
William Homan Thorpe Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (1 April 1902 – 7 April 1986) was Professor of Animal Ethology at the University of Cambridge, and a significant United Kingdom, British zoologist, ethologist and ornithologist.Alan Costall, ...
(1902–1986)
* 1960–1965:
Reginald Ernest Moreau (1897–1970)
* 1965–1970:
V. C. Wynne-Edwards (1906–1997)
* 1970–1975:
Guy Mountfort (1905–2003)
* 1975–1979:
Sir Hugh Elliott (1913–1989)
* 1979–1983:
Stanley Cramp
Stanley Cramp (24 September 1913 – 20 August 1987) was a British civil servant and ornithologist best known as the first Chief Editor of the encyclopaedic nine-volume handbook '' The Birds of the Western Palearctic'' (BWP).
Cramp was born in S ...
(1913–1987)
* 1983–1987:
James F. Monk (1915–2014)
* 1987–1990:
David Snow
* 1990–1994:
Janet Kear
Janet Kear (13 January 1933 – 24 November 2004) was an English ornithologist and conservationist who worked extensively on waterfowl and wrote several major works on ducks. She was the first woman to become president of the British Ornithol ...
(1933–2004)
* 1994–1999:
John Croxall
* 1999–2003:
Ian Newton
Ian Newton (born 17 January 1940) is an England, English ornithologist.
Education and early life
Newton was born and raised in north Derbyshire and was educated at Chesterfield Grammar School. He graduated from the University of Bristol.
* 2003–2007:
Christopher Perrins
* 2007–2011:
Alistair Dawson (
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology)
* 2011–2015:
Jenny Gill
Jennifer Mary Gill (born 1951) is a semi-retired executive from New Zealand who works in philanthropy. She was New Zealand's first full-time paid employee working in philanthropy, and the chair of Philanthropy New Zealand.
Biography
Jennifer ...
(
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...
)
* 2015–2019:
Keith Hamer (
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...
)
* 2019–2023:
Juliet Vickery (
RSPB/BTO)
Honorary life members
The following have been elected as honorary life members:
* (Germany)
* (France)
* Paul F. Donald (UK)
*
Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim (Switzerland)
* Andrew G. Gosler (UK)
*
Soekarja Somadikarta (Indonesia)
* (Sweden)
See also
*
British Ornithologists' Union checklists
*
British Birds Rarities Committee
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Bird rarities committees
Charities based in England
Huntingdonshire
1858 establishments in the United Kingdom
Organisations based in Cambridgeshire
Organizations established in 1858