Michael Patrick Stuart Irwin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 July 1925 |
| Died | 13 September 2017(2017-09-13) (aged 92) |
| Citizenship | British, Rhodesian |
| Known for | The Birds of Zimbabwe |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Ornithology |
| Institutions | Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe |
| Author abbrev. (zoology) | Irwin |
Michael Patrick Stuart Irwin (1925[1] – 13 September 2017)[2] was a British-Rhodesian ornithologist.
Irwin was born inNorthern Ireland and moved toSouthern Rhodesia (nowZimbabwe) in 1949 where he metReay Smithers, then director of the National Museum of Southern Rhodesia inBulawayo, and soon became collector with the museum. In 1959 he was assistant curator of vertebrates, subsequently curator of ornithology, in 1975[1] regional director in Bulawayo, and finally associate ornithologist, and as of 2012[1] a natural history librarian inNorfolk.[3]
Irwin worked closely withConstantine Walter Benson, an authority on central African birds. Together, they expanded the bird collection of theNatural History Museum of Zimbabwe until it became the largest both in Africa and in the southern hemisphere. It currently houses over 90,000 specimens from Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries and is one of the museum's greatest resources.[3]
In 1981, Irwin published his best known workThe Birds of Zimbabwe, but he had previously published theBibliography of the Birds of Rhodesia in 1978, and co-authoredA Checklist of Birds of Southern Rhodesia (with Reay Smithers) in 1957 andThe Birds of Zambia (with Constantine Walter Benson) in 1971. He contributed also toThe Birds of Africa series (with Emil K. Urban,Stuart Keith and C. Hilary Fry) and has published more than 300 scientific papers, many of them in the museum's journalArnoldia.[3]
Irwin described the subspeciesSpizocorys conirostris crypta of thepink-billed lark in 1957,[4] the subspeciesEremopterix verticalis khama of thegrey-backed sparrow-lark in 1957,[5] the subspeciesCalamonastes stierlingi pinto of theStierling's wren-warbler in 1960,[6] and together with Benson the subspeciesEremopterix verticalis harti in 1965[7] and the subspeciesMirafra fasciolata reynoldsi of theeastern clapper lark in 1965.[8] In collaboration withPhillip Clancey he described the monotypic genusArcanator for thedapple-throat in 1986.[9]
Irwin was editor ofHoneyguide, an ornithological journal ofBird Life Zimbabwe, for 24 years.[3]
In May 2017, he had a severe fall and in September 2017 he died from the consequences of ahip fracture.[2]
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