Howard Saunders
Howard Saunders | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Invalid birth date for calculating age London, England |
| Died | October 20, 1907 (aged 72) |
| Occupation(s) | Ornithologist, entrepreneur, merchant banker |
| Known for | Studies of gulls and terns; co-editor of The Ibis; secretary of the British Ornithologists' Union and British Ornithologists' Club |
Howard Saunders (16 September 1835 – 20 October 1907) was a British entrepreneur who gained recognition as an ornithologist, with a particular focus on gulls and terns.
Life and work
Saunders was born in London on 16 September 1835 and received his education at institutions in Leatherhead and Rottingdean. His professional journey began in merchant banking, a career that facilitated extensive travel, including expeditions to Brazil and Chile between 1855 and 1862.
Following 1862, Saunders devoted himself to the study of Spanish avifauna, producing numerous papers published in The Ibis after his explorations of the Pyrenees during 1883 and 1884. His ornithological contributions extended to the birds of Switzerland in 1891 and an analysis of bird distribution across Metropolitan France in 1893. Between 1883–1886 and again from 1895–1900, he served as co-editor of The Ibis alongside P. L. Sclater.
Renowned for his expertise on gulls and terns, Saunders conducted detailed examinations of gull specimens collected during the Challenger expedition (1872–1876).
He held the position of secretary for the British Ornithologists' Union from 1901 until 1907 and was the inaugural secretary and treasurer of the British Ornithologists' Club. Additionally, he participated actively in the Zoological, Linnean, and Royal Geographical Societies.
Ornithological publications
Saunders’ initial publication on Spanish birds appeared in The Ibis in 1869.
In 1872, he formally described the Iberian green woodpecker, Picus sharpii, honoring its discoverer, Richard Bowdler Sharpe.
His Illustrated Manual of British Birds was first released in twenty installments between 1888 and 1889, with a complete volume published in 1889. A second edition was issued in 1899, followed by a third edition revised by William Eagle Clarke two decades after Saunders’ passing.
Legacy
Two avian species have been named to commemorate him:
Bibliography
- Saunders, Howard. "Ornithological Rambles in Spain," The Ibis, 1869, New Series, Vol. V, pp. 170–186.
- Saunders, Howard. "On a new Species of Green Woodpecker from Southern Europe," Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1872, pp. 153–154.
- Saunders, Howard. "On the Occurrence of Falco barbarus and Cypselus pallidus on the Continent of Europe," Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1872.
- Saunders, Howard. "On the Sterninae, or Terns, with Descriptions of three new Species," Journal of Zoology, 1876, Vol. 44, Issue 1, pp. 638–672; also in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1876.
- Third and fourth (1885) editions of Yarrell's A History of British Birds
- Saunders, Howard. Illustrated Manual of British Birds, London: Gurney and Jackson, 1889; a work widely acknowledged and frequently cited within ornithological circles.
- Later editions include a revised second edition (1899) and a third edition updated by William Eagle Clarke (1927).
- Saunders, Howard and Osbert Salvin. Catalogue of the Gaviae and Tubinares in the collection of the British Museum. Gaviae (terns, gulls, and skuas), London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1896 (Catalogue of the birds in the British Museum, vol. 25).
Sources
- Mullens and Swann - A Bibliography of British Ornithology
- Ibis Jubilee Supplement
- Obituary