The FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology is a South African biological research and conservation institute based at the University of Cape Town. The mission statement of the institute is ''“to promote and undertake scientific studies involving birds, and contribute to the practice affecting the maintenance of biological diversity and the sustained use of biological resources”''.

History

The FitzPatrick Institute was founded in 1959 through the efforts and financial support of Cecily Niven, the daughter of

Sir Percy FitzPatrick Sir James Percy FitzPatrick, (24 July 1862 – 24 January 1931), known as Percy FitzPatrick, was a South African author, politician, mining financier and pioneer of the fruit industry. He authored the classic children's book, ''Jock of the Bus ...

, and was originally incorporated as a non-profit company. It is now incorporated within the University of Cape Town as an autonomous subunit within the department of Zoology. It houses the Niven Library and has become the largest centre for ornithological research in the Southern Hemisphere. The name was changed in 2018 from the "Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of Ornithology".

Research

As of the end of 2006, research programs and initiatives included: *

Systematics Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tre ...

and

biogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

* Life history strategies * Cooperative breeding and sociality in birds * Ecology of migration * Ecological and evolutionary physiology *

Rarity Rarity may refer to: Concepts * Economic rarity, or scarcity, the economic problem of human want exceeding limited resources * Species rarity, the position of species organisms being very uncommon or infrequently encountered People *John Rari ...

and

conservation biology Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an int ...

of southern African birds * Island conservation * Seabird research * Raptor research * Gamebird research * Spatial

parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it fo ...

and epidemiology * Pattern process linkages in landscape ecology * Environmental and resource economics,

water resources Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slight ...

and

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

ecology, and conservation * Climate change vulnerability and adaptation

References

Percy FitzPatrick Institute Annual Report, January-December 2006
downloaded 2 November 2007

External links

Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
Ornithological organizations Biological research institutes 1959 establishments in South Africa University of Cape Town Organizations established in 1959 Animal welfare organisations based in South Africa Research institutes in South Africa {{ornithology-org-stub