British Ornithologists' Union

British Ornithologists' Union
Abbreviation	BOU
Formation	1858 (1858)
Purpose/focus	Ornithological research
President	Dr Jenny Gill University of East Anglia
Vice-president	Prof Graham Martin University of Birmingham
Secretary	Ken Smith
Treasurer	Julianne Evans
Key people	Alfred Newton (founder)
Main organ	Council of Trustees
Website	www.bou.org.uk

The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds ("ornithology") in Britain, Europe and around the world, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation.

Its quarterly journal, Ibis, has been published since 1859.

The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry Baker Tristram and other scientists.

The British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (BOURC) is a committee of the BOU established to maintain the British List, the official list of birds recorded in Great Britain.

List of presidents

• 1858-1867 : Henry Maurice Drummond-Hay (1814–1896)
• 1867-1896 : Lord Lilford (1833–1896)
• 1896-1913 : Frederick DuCane Godman (1834–1919)
• 1913-1918 : Robert George Wardlaw Ramsay (1852–1921)
• 1918-1921 : William Eagle Clarke (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 (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 (1913–1987)
• 1983-1987 : James F. Monk
• 1987-1990 : David Snow
• 1990-1994 : Janet Kear (1933–2004)
• 1994-1999 : John Croxall
• 1999-2003 : Ian Newton
• 2003-2007 : Christopher Perrins
• 2007-2011 : Alistair Dawson (Centre for Ecology & Hydrology)
• 2011-current : Jenny Gill (University of East Anglia)

Notable members

• Oliver Vernon Aplin
• David Armitage Bannerman
• Constantine Walter Benson
• Leslie Hilton Brown
• Gilbert Dempster Fisher
• Thomas Campbell Eyton
• John Henry Gurney
• Christopher Helm
• Henry Eliot Howard
• Edgar Leopold Layard
• George Edward Lodge
• Hubert Lynes
• Edward Newton
• Osbert Salvin
• Philip Sclater
• Robert Fisher Tomes
• Alfred Russel Wallace
• Edward Adrian Wilson

See also

• British Ornithologists' Union checklists
• British Ornithologists' Club

External links

• BOU website
• IBIS journal on Twitter