Kenneth Nigel Graham Simpson (1938 – 9 July 2014) was an Australian

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 ...

and ornithological writer best known for writing, with artist Nicolas Day, the '' Field Guide to the Birds of Australia''. Simpson was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and educated at

University High School University High School may refer to: Australia * University High School, Melbourne, Victoria Canada * University Hill Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia United States Arizona * University High School (Tolleson) * University High Sc ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. He subsequently worked as a research technician in various institutions as well as lecturing in primary science at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

and leading

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

tours. During the mid-1960s he studied

royal penguin The royal penguin (''Eudyptes schlegeli'') is a species of penguin, which can be found only on the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island and adjacent islands. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the royal penguin as Leas ...

s and

wandering albatross The snowy albatross (''Diomedea exulans''), also known as the wandering albatross, white-winged albatross, or goonie, is a large seabird from the family Diomedeidae Albatrosses, of the biological family (biology), family Diomedeidae, are la ...

es on

subantarctic The sub-Antarctic zone is a physiographic region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46th parallel south, 46° and 60th parallel south, 60° south of t ...

Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is a subantarctic island in the south-western Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. It has been governed as a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1880. It became a Protected areas of Tasmania, Tasmania ...

. He had a long association with the Bird Observers Club of Australia (BOCA), which he joined at the age of 11 in 1949, and was involved in editorial work with the BOCA journal '' Australian Bird Watcher''. In addition to his ornithological studies, while on

Simpson collected botanical specimens (mostly

Lichens A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

). The specimens are held at the

National Herbarium of Victoria The National Herbarium of Victoria (Index Herbariorum code: MEL) is one of Australia's earliest herbaria and the oldest scientific institution in Victoria. Its 1.56 million specimens of preserved plants, fungi and algae—collectively known ...

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) are botanical garden, botanic gardens across two sites–Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Melbourne and Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne, Cranbourne. Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land w ...

Honours

* Honorary Degree of Master of Science,

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

(1974) *

Australian Natural History Medallion The Australian Natural History Medallion is awarded each year by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) to the person judged to have made the most meritorious contribution to the understanding of Australian natural history. The idea origin ...

(1996) * President, Bird Observers Club of Australia (1996–1998) * Honorary Life Membership, Bird Observers Club of Australia

Publications

As well as numerous articles and scientific papers, books authored or coauthored by Simpson include: * 1972 – ''Birds in Bass Strait''. Reed: Sydney. * 1984–2010 – ''Field Guide to the Birds of Australia'' (with Nicolas Day), first published as ''The Birds of Australia – a Book of Identification'' by Lloyd O’Neil: Melbourne, , with several subsequent editions published by Penguin Australia (Viking) * 1987 – ''Birds of Australia Logbook''. Viking O’Neill Australia. * 1998 – ''Birdwatching in Australia and New Zealand''. (With Zoe Wilson). Reed New Holland: Sydney.

References

1938 births 2014 deaths Australian ornithologists Ornithological writers Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria {{Australia-ornithologist-stub Scientists from Sydney Academic staff of Deakin University