The Adelaide Ornithologists' Club (AOC) was founded by Alan Lendon, a leading

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

and prominent

aviculturist Aviculture is the practice of keeping and breeding birds, especially of wild birds in captivity. Aviculture Aviculture is the practice of keeping birds (class ''Aves'') in captivity in controlled conditions, normally within the confines of a c ...

, in 1960, as a breakaway group from the

South Australian Ornithological Association The South Australian Ornithological Association (SAOA), also known as Birds SA, is an Australian birding organisation based in Adelaide, South Australia. The SAOA publishes a journal, the '' South Australian Ornithologist'' as well as the ''Bird ...

, with

John Neil McGilp John Neil McGilp OBE (30 October 1881 – 1963) was a South Australian pastoralist and amateur ornithologist. He was a foundation member of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU), and served as President of the organisation in 1938� ...

as its first President. It followed dissension within the SAOA about the live bird export trade, in which the

Adelaide Zoo Adelaide Zoo is a zoo in Adelaide, Australia. It is the country's second oldest zoo (after Melbourne Zoo) opening in 1883, and is operated on a non-profit basis. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands just north of the Adelaide cit ...

was a leading player and Lendon a member of the Zoo Council. The AOC was formed with the explicit aim of promoting the study of birds. The pattern established in the early years and still maintained is that the club has an evening meeting and a Sunday outing each month except for December and January. Meetings typically include an address on a subject of relevance to ornithology, a section called bird notes devoted to recent sightings of interest, and "bird of the month", a section presented by a club member and offering a brief view of a particular bird species or bird family. Sunday outings visit local bird watching spots for identification in the field. Once a year there is a Spring Excursion for a week to an area further afield. Each year the club produces a magazine entitled "Bird Talk" with summaries of the outings and other articles about birds. The club welcomes new members. Its web site's URL is www.adelaideornithologists.com.

References

* Bonnin, J. Mark. (1974). Obituary. Alan Harding Lendon. ''

Emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...

'' 74: 60–61. * Collier, Roger; Hatch, John; Matheson, Bill; & Russell, Tony. (Eds). (2000). ''Birds, Birders and Birdwatching. A celebration of one hundred years of the South Australian Ornithological Association''. SAOA: Adelaide. * Robin, Libby. (2001). ''The Flight of the Emu: a hundred years of Australian ornithology 1901-2001''. Melbourne University Press: Carlton. {{ISBN, 0-522-84987-3 * Harris, Jim and Hone, Geoff. ''Adelaide ornithologists' Club 1960 to 2009.'' Adelaide Ornithologists' Club, inc. 2009. Ornithological organisations in Australia Organisations based in Adelaide 1960 establishments in Australia