Richard (Dick) John Watling (born 13 November 1951) is a

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

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 ...

, writer and environmental consultant of British origin.

Life

Watling was born in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, spent most of his childhood in

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

and first went to Fiji in 1967. He studied

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

Bristol University The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...

and then obtained a doctorate at

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 ...

, his doctoral thesis concerning the

red-vented bulbul The red-vented bulbul (''Pycnonotus cafer'') is a member of the bulbul family of passerines. It is a resident breeder across the Indian subcontinent, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka extending east to Burma and parts of Bhutan and Nepal. It has b ...

, a bird introduced to Fiji where it is an agricultural pest. He has worked in the Lake Manyara and

Serengeti National Park The Serengeti National Park is a large national park in northern Tanzania that stretches over . It is located in eastern Mara Region and northeastern Simiyu Region and contains over of virgin savanna. The park was established in 1940. The Se ...

s in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

and with the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

's Conservation Indonesia Programme as well as at many places throughout the south-west Pacific and south-east Asian regions. He has also served as editor of ''Domodomo'', the journal of the Fiji Museum. and was the principal founder of NatureFiji-MareqetiViti, which is Fiji's only domestic NGO working solely for the conservation of Fiji's natural heritage

Publications

Books authored or coauthored by Watling include: * 1982 – ''Birds of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa''. (Illustrated by Chloe Talbot-Kelly). Millwood: New Zealand. * 1986 – ''Mai Veikau: Tales of Fijian Wildlife''. Fiji Times: Suva. * 1999 – ''Pocket Poster Guide to the Birds of Fiji''. Author: Fiji. * 2001 – ''A Guide to the Birds of Fiji and Western Polynesia: Including American Samoa, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna''. Author: Fiji. * 2005 – ''Palms of the Fiji Islands''. (With George Bennett). Environmental Consultants: Suva. * 2006 – ''Guide to the Birds of the Kingdom of Tonga''. Author: Fiji.

References

1951 births Fijian ornithologists 21st-century Fijian writers Fijian environmentalists Living people Fijian people of British descent Immigrants to Fiji 20th-century Fijian scientists 21st-century Fijian scientists {{ornithologist-stub