Christopher John Mead (1 May 1940 – 16 January 2003) was a popular British

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 ...

, author and broadcaster, and an influential member of the

British Trust for Ornithology The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is an organisation founded in 1932 for the study of birds in the British Isles. The William, Prince of Wales, Prince of Wales has been patron since October 2020. History Beginning In 1931 Max Nicholson ...

(BTO). Mead was an avid lover of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, (watching) rugby, motor racing, local history and archaeology. In 1994, he stated his ornithological interests as "bird ringing, migration, longevity and population dynamics"''Who's Who in Ornithology'', John E. Pemberton, Buckingham Press, 1994

Family

He married Verity in 1965; they had three daughters called Vanella, Harriet (a wildlife artist) and Miranda.

Education

Educated at

Aldenham School Aldenham School is a co-educational private boarding and day school for pupils aged eleven to eighteen, located between Elstree and the village of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, England. There is also a preparatory school for pupils from the ag ...

, Hertfordshire, he began, but failed to complete, a degree in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

Peterhouse Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Migration and ringing

An acknowledged expert on

bird migration Bird migration is a seasonal movement of birds between breeding and wintering grounds that occurs twice a year. It is typically from north to south or from south to north. Animal migration, Migration is inherently risky, due to predation and ...

, Mead worked for the BTO for more than 40 years, from 1961. For most of that time (33 years) he worked in the BTO's Ringing Unit. In his lifetime, he caught and ringed over 400,000 birds of some 350 species in 18 countries. He was head of Britain's National Ringing Scheme.

Nightingales

To raise funds for the BTO's

nightingale The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale (''Luscinia megarhynchos''), is a small passerine bird which is best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, ...

research, Mead devised a CD of poetry, and nightingale song (including several historic archive recordings) ''Nightingales: A Celebration'' with an accompanying book by

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and ...

Retirement

In 1995, ill health brought about his early, and supposed, "retirement", after which he became the BTO's media consultant, regularly being interviewed on radio and in the press.

Awards

Mead may be unique in being given each of the following UK awards for ornithology: *The

British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds (ornithology) around the world in order to understand their biology and aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry Baker ...

's ''Union Medal'' (1996) *The BTO ''Bernard Tucker Medal'' (1997) *The '' RSPB Medal'' (1999; for his achievements in the causes of wild bird protection and countryside conservation)

Memorial

Following Mead's death, his family and the BTO decided to use the many proffered donations, and a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, to develop the BTO's library, and rename it ''The Chris Mead Library''. A memorial day for Mead was held at the BTO's headquarters, ''The Nunnery'', on 5 May 2003. Mead was also remembered in a special edition of

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

wildlife programme ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' on 12 May 2003 (available on-line, see below).

Bibliography

*''Bird Ringing'' (1974) No ISBN *''The Atlas of Breeding Birds of Britain and Ireland'' (1976; contributor) *''Hertfordshire breeding bird atlas'' (1982; co-editor) *''Bird Migration'' (1983) *''Robins'' (1984) *''Owls'' (1987) *''

The EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds ''The EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds - Their Distribution and Abundance'' () is an ornithological atlas published for the European Bird Census Council by T & A D Poyser in 1997. Its editors were Ward J. M. Hagemeijer and Michael J. Bla ...

'' (1997; contributor) *''The State of the Nations' Birds'' (2000) *''Migration Atlas: Movements of the Birds of Britain and Ireland'' (2002; contributor)

References

External links

BTO Chris Mead Memorial Fund

Daily Telegraph obituary

BBC ''Nature'' tribute programme
(Available from this page as streaming Real Audio).

Sources

BTO Press release {{DEFAULTSORT:Mead, Chris 1940 births 2003 deaths Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge English nature writers English ornithologists British Trust for Ornithology people People from Hilborough 20th-century British zoologists