“An Egg Is Always an Adventure”

Birds’ eggs can bring out the worst in people. In the UK, for example,  the avaricious collecting of birds’ eggs more than 60 years ago threatened or hastened local extinctions …

German Ornithological Treasures

Johann Friederich Naumann (1780-1857) is probably the best known of the early German ornithologists, and was one of the founders of scientific ornithology in continental Europe. Naumann collected birds and …

Discovering Francis Willughby

Francis Willughby (1635-1672), an English ornithologist, is far from well-known. He died at just 36, so his  groundbreaking books on birds, fish and insects were all completed and subsequently published …