August von Pelzeln (10 May 1825,Prague – 2 September 1891 inOberdöbling) was anAustrianornithologist. He was a grandson to novelistKaroline Pichler (1769-1843).[1]
He studied at theUniversity of Vienna, later working as an assistant underhelminthologistKarl Moriz Diesing (1800-1867) in theHof-Naturalien-Cabinet (from 1851). In 1857 he acquiredcuratorial duties formerly held byJohann Jakob Heckel (1790-1857),[1] and subsequently became in charge of thebird (1857) andmammal (1869) collections.[2] He worked on the birds collected byJohann Natterer inBrazil (343 species).[3]
He was forced to retire from the museum due to ill health, and died atOberdöbling near Vienna.
Some birds described by Pelzeln are theorange-breasted thornbird, thespot-winged antbird, thered-legged tinamou, thewhite-throated tinamou, theshort-billed leaftosser, theyellow-margined flatbill and theNew Zealand rockwren.
His name is associated withPelzeln's tody-tyrant (Hemitriccus inornatus).[4]Gustav Hartlaub (1814-1900) named theMadagascar grebe (Tachybaptus pelzelnii) in his honor;[5]Otto Finsch (1839-1917) named thePohnpei starling (Aplonis pelzelni) after Pelzeln.[6]
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