Jon Fjeldså (born 13 December 1942) is a Norwegian-born Danish

ornithologist 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 ...

and bird artist. Fjeldså has authored several books and published numerous research papers, primarily focusing on

grebe Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order (biology), order Podicipediformes (). Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in sea, marine habitats during Bird migration, migration and winter. Most grebes f ...

s, birds of the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

and

Eastern Arc Mountains The Eastern Arc Mountains are a chain of mountains found in Kenya and Tanzania. The chain runs from northeast to southwest, with the Taita Hills being in Kenya and the other ranges being in Tanzania. They are delimited on the southwest by the fau ...

, and evolution of

passerines A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

. He is an emeritus professor at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

Early life and military service

Jon Fjeldså was born in southwestern Norway in Hauge to two Danish parents, Anine Knudsen and Per Fjeldså, and grew up in Bodø. Per Fjeldså would often take his sons on nature trips to look at animals, and early on Jon became particularly interested in birds. His focus on grebes started when he was young and found a trusting pair of

horned grebe The horned grebe or Slavonian grebe (''Podiceps auritus'') is a relatively small and Threatened species, threatened species of waterbird in the family Podicipedidae. There are two subspecies, ''P. a. auritus'' (Slavonian grebe), which breed ...

s, allowing him to closely observe their behavior. Growing up after World War II, he and his playmates also played with leftover ammunition and weapons found in the region. After finishing secondary school, he served in the Norwegian army on the Russian-Norwegian border in 1961–62. With his photographic memory and abilities with a binocular and as an illustrator (photography at Russia's border was strictly illegal), he was able to bring new information and details to Norway on an improved version of the Russian AK-47 Kalashnikov rifle, and made detailed plans of the exterior of Russian border stations.

Later life and ornithology

After leaving the Norwegian army, he began to study biology at the

University of Bergen The University of Bergen () is a public university, public research university in Bergen, Norway. As of 2021, the university had over 4,000 employees and 19,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 1946 consolidating several sci ...

, graduating in 1970. He then joined the Copenhagen Zoological Museum in Denmark as a curator, inspired by

Finn Salomonsen Finn Salomonsen (31 January 1909 – 23 April 1983) was a Danish ornithologist. He is best known for his work on the birds of Greenland. His interest in Greenland began at the age of 16 when he made a trip with Lehn Schioler to the Upernavik Dis ...

and its international research. In 1974, he published his PhD thesis on the horned grebe and the following year he received his doctorate at the University of Copenhagen. He became a professor of zoology at the University of Copenhagen in 1996. The

of South America is home to many species of grebes, which initially brought him to the region. His international field work played an important role in the foundation of the tissue collection (blood samples, etc) at the Danish Natural History Museum, which today houses the second-largest bird

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

collection in the world. Fjeldså has authored and co-authored several books, notably the ''Guide to the young of European precocial birds'' (1977), ''Birds of the High Andes'' (1990, co-authored with

Niels Krabbe Niels Kaare Krabbe (born 1 July 1951) is a Danish ornithologist and bird conservationist for many years based at the Vertebrate Department of the Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen and tutored by Jon Fjeldså. His research interests in ...

), ''The Grebes: Podicipedidae'' (2004) and ''The Largest Avian Radiation: The Evolution of Perching Birds, or the Order Passeriformes'' (2020, primary author and editor together with

Les Christidis Leslie Christidis (born 30 May 1959), also simply known as Les Christidis, is an Australian ornithologist. His main research field is the evolution and systematics of birds. He has been director of Southern Cross University National Marine Scienc ...

and Per G. P. Ericson), has illustrated or otherwise provided information for many books, and has published hundreds of research papers, primarily focusing on grebes, birds of the Andes and Eastern Arc Mountains, and evolution of the passerines. He has described several bird species and

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

from South America and Africa, especially the Andes and Eastern Arc Mountains, such as '' Cranioleuca henricae'' (Bolivian spinetail) from Bolivia, '' Laterallus jamaicensis tuerosi'' (Junin crake) and '' Atlapetes melanopsis'' (black-spectacled brushfinch) from Peru, and '' Batis crypta'' (dark batis), '' Sheppardia aurantiithorax'' (Rubeho akalat) and '' Xenoperdix udzungwensis'' (Udzungwa forest partridge) from Tanzania. '' Epinecrophylla haematonota fjeldsaai'' (Yasuni antwren) was named in his honour.

References

External links

Biography at the website of the Annals of Improbable Research

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Dansk biografisk lexikon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fjeldså, Jon 1942 births Living people Danish expatriates in Norway Danish ornithologists Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen