Biswamoy Biswas (2 June 1923 – 10 August 1994) was an Indian

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

who was born in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, the son of a professor of geology.Mayr, E. (2000) "In Memoriam: Biswamoy Biswas, 1923–1994." ''The Auk'' 117(4):103
PDF
/ref> In 1947, he was awarded a three-year fellowship by Sunderlal Hora, then director of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI). It enabled him to study at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, at the Berlin Zoological Museum under

Erwin Stresemann Erwin Friedrich Theodor Stresemann (22 November 1889, in Dresden – 20 November 1972, in East Berlin) was a German naturalist and ornithologist. Stresemann was an ornithologist of extensive breadth who compiled one of the first and most comprehe ...

and also at the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

under

Ernst Mayr Ernst Walter Mayr ( ; ; 5 July 1904 – 3 February 2005) was a German-American evolutionary biologist. He was also a renowned Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, Philosophy of biology, philosopher of biology, and ...

. Biswas studied biology in his college instead of geology as his father wished. He graduated from the University of Calcutta in 1943 and received an MSc in 1945. He received a Ph.D. in 1952 from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

working under J.L. Bhaduri. He was part of the

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

expedition sent to look for the Yeti around

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

in 1954. He was elected Corresponding Fellow of The American Ornithologists' Union in 1963. He later took charge of the Bird and Mammal Section of the Zoological Survey of India. He won Chapman Grants from the American Ornithologists' Union in 1965, 1966 and 1970, for research at the British Museum. Later, he was joint director of the ZSI, until he retired in 1981, and then emeritus scientist until 1986. Some of his landmark works were on the birds of

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

and

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

. A flying squirrel species ''Biswamoyopterus biswasi'' is named in his honour.

Publications

* Biswas, B. (1947): Notes on a collection of birds from the Darrang District, Assam. ''Records of the Indian Museum'' 45: 225–244. * Biswas, B. (1947): On a collection of birds from Rajputana. ''Records of the Indian Museum'' 45: 245–265. * Biswas, B. (1950): On the taxonomy of some Asiatic Pygmy Woodpeckers. ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of Bengal'' 3(1): 1-37. * Biswas, B. (1950): The Himalayan races of the Nutcracker Nucifraga caryocatactes (Linne.) ves ''Journal of the Zoological Society of India'' 2(1): 26. * Biswas, B. (1950): The generic limits of Treron Vieillot. ''Bulletin of the British Ornithologists Club'' 70(5): 34. * Biswas, B. (1951): Revisions of Indian birds. ''American Museum Novitates'' 1500: 1–12. * Biswas, B. (1951): Notes on the taxonomic status of the Indian Plaintive Cuckoo Cuculus passerinus Vahl. ''Ibis'' 93(4): 596–598. * Biswas, B. (1951): On some Larger Spine-tailed Swifts, with the description of a new subspecies (Chaetura cochinensis rupchandi) from Nepal. ''Ardea'' 39(4): 318–321. * Biswas, B. (1952): Geographical variation in the woodpecker Picus flavinucha Gould. ''Ibis'' 94(2): 210–219. * Biswas, B. (1953): Fauna of the Balangir District (formerly Patna State), Orissa. II. Birds. ''Records of the Indian Museum'' 51: 416–419. * Biswas, B. (1954): Fauna of the Balangir District (formerly Patna State) Orissa. Birds. ''Records of the Indian Museum'' 51: 416–419. * Biswas, B. (1954): A checklist of genera of Indian birds. Additions and corrections. ''Records of the Indian Museum'' 54: 101-106a. * Biswas, B. (1954): Review: The Birds of Travancore & Cochin. By Salim Ali, with 22 plates (16 in colour by D.V. Cowen). Pp. xx+668. (Oxford University Press) Bombay, 1953. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 52(2&3): 573–575. * Biswas, B. (1955): Review: The Book of Indian Birds. By Salim Ali. 5th (Revised) edition. Pp. xlvi + 142, (7" × 4") 78 plates (56 in colour by D.V. Cowen), 3 diagrams and 2 end paper maps. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay, 1955. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 53(1): 117–118. * Biswas, B. (1955): Zoological results of the Daily Mail Himalayas Expedition 1954. Two new birds from Khumba, Eastern Nepal. ''Bulletin of the British Ornithologists Club'' 75(7): 87–88. * Biswas, B. (1958): Taxonomic status of the Blood Pheasants of Nepal and Sikkim. ''Journal of the Zoological Society of India'' 10(1): 100–101. * Biswas, B. (1959): A note on the correct zoological name of the Indian Little Green Heron (Aves, Ardeidae). ''Current Science'' 28: 288. * Biswas, B. (1960): A new name for the Himalayan Red-winged Babbler, Pteruthius. ''Bulletin of the British Ornithological Union'' 80(6): 106. * Biswas, B. (1961): Proposal to designate a neotype for Corvus benghalensis Linnaeus, 1758 (Aves), under the plenary powers Z.N. (S) 1465. ''Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature'' 18(3): 217–219. * Biswas, B. (1962): The birds of Nepal. Part 8. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 59(3): 807–821. * Biswas, B. (1962): Further notes on the Shrikes Lanius tephronotus and Lanius schach. ''Ibis'' 104(1): 112–115. * Biswas, B. (1962): Review: A Synopsis of the Birds of India and Pakistan. By Sidney Dillon Ripley II. pp. xxxvi+703 (23×15.5 cm.). Bombay, 1961. Bombay Natural History Society. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 59(1): 276–278. * Biswas, B. (1973): Report of the Indian national section. Bulletin of the International Council for Bird Preservation 11: 238–239. * Biswas, B. (1983): Additional notes on birds recorded on 1954 'Daily Mail' Himalayan Expedition. Unpublished. * Biswas, B. (?): Comments on Ripley's A Synopsis of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Part 2. Unpublished manuscript. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1950): On the Shrike Lanius tephronotus (Vigors), with remarks on the erythronotus and tricolor groups of Lanius schach Linne, and their hybrids. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 49(3): 444–455. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1951): A new race of the Ground-Thrush Turdus citrinus (Aves: Turdidae). ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 49(4): 661–662. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1952): A checklist of genera of Indian birds. ''Records of the Indian Museum'' 50(1): 1-62. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1956): A Large Indian Kite Milvus migrans lineatus (Gray) with a split bill. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 53(3): 474–475. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1959): On the validity of Harpactes erythrocephalus hodgsoni (Gould) ves: Trogonidae ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 56(2): 335–338. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1959): On the Parakeet, Psittacula intermedia (Rothschild) ves: Psittacidae ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 56(3): 558–562. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1960): The birds of Nepal. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 57(2): 278–308. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1960): The birds of Nepal. Part 2. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 57(3): 516–546. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1961): The birds of Nepal. Part 3. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 58(1): 100–134. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1961): The birds of Nepal. Part 4. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 58(2): 441–474. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1961): The birds of Nepal. Part 5. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 58(3): 653–677. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1962): The birds of Nepal. Part 6. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 59(1): 200–227. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1962): The birds of Nepal. Part 7. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 59(2): 405–429. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1963): The birds of Nepal. Part 9. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 60(1): 173–200. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1963): The birds of Nepal. Part 10. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 60(2): 388–399. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1963): The birds of Nepal. Part 11. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 60(3): 638–654. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1963): Review: Comments on Ripley's "A Synopsis of the Birds of India and Pakistan". ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 60(3): 679–689. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1966): The birds of Nepal. Part 12. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 63(2): 365–377. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1968): The female of Molesworth's Tragopan Tragopan blythi molesworthi (Baker). ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 65(1): 216–217. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1968): Some new bird records for Nepal. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 65(3): 782–784. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1969): Review: Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, Vol. 1. By Salim Ali and S. Dillon Ripley. pp. lviii+380 (16.7 × 24.7 cm.). 18 coloured plates. Bombay, 1968. Oxford University Press. Price Rs. 90. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 66(1): 152–154. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1969): Review: Birds of Kerala (second edition of The Birds of Travancore and Cochin). By Salim Ali. pp. xxiii+444 (16.5 × 24 cm.) + 22 plates (16 in colour by D.V. Cowen) + many pen-and-ink sketches+end-paper maps. Bombay, 1969. Oxford University Press. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 66(2): 372–373. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1972): Review: Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Vol. 6. By Salim Ali and S. Dillon Ripley. pp. xvi+245 (24×16 cm) with 8 coloured plates and numerous black-and-white illustrations. Bombay, 1971. Oxford University Press. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 69(2): 400–401. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1974): Zoological results of the Daily Mail Himalayan Expedition 1954: Notes on some birds of Eastern Nepal. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 71(3): 456–495. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1978): Review: Field Guide to the Birds of the Eastern Himalayas. By Salim Ali. pp. xvi+263 (11.8×18 cm). With 37 coloured plates. Delhi, 1977. Oxford University Press. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 75(3): 915–916. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1985): Review: Comments on Ripley's "A Synopsis of the Birds of India and Pakistan" - Second Edition (1982). ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 82(1): 126–129. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1986): Review: A Pictorial Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. By Salim Ali & S. Dillon Ripley. Pp. 117+106 plates (73 in colour, 33 monochrome), (18.5 cm × 24.7 cm) with plates by John Henry Dick. New Delhi, 1983. Bombay Natural History Society & Oxford University Press. ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 83(2): 412–414. * Biswas, Biswamoy (1989): Taxonomic status of Psittacula intermedia (Rothschild). ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' 86(3): 448.

References

External links

* http://www.zoonomen.net/bio/biob.html
The Birds of Bhutan (1996)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biswas, Biswamoy 1923 births 1994 deaths Indian ornithologists University of Calcutta alumni 20th-century Indian zoologists Scientists from Kolkata