Klaus Immelmann (May 6, 1935 – September 8, 1987) was a German ethologist and

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 ...

. He undertook field research in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and published works in German and English. His second and third visit to South Africa were in 1969 and 1971. Immelmann became a permanent executive member of the

International Ornithological Union The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology. It links basic and applied research and nurtures education and outreach activities. Specifically, the IOU organizes and funds global co ...

, and its president in 1986. He is the author of ''Australian finches in bush and aviary'' (1965), regarded as the first standard text on the subject, and a study of comparative biology of

estrildid Estrildidae, or estrildid finches, is a family (taxonomy), family of small seed-eating passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They comprise species commonly known as munias, mannikins, firefinches, parrotfinches and waxbills. ...

finches in Australia. His first visit to Australia was in the late 1950s, shortly after receiving his PhD. His 1976 book ''Einführung in die Verhaltensforschung'', which brought together much of his scientific thinking, was translated into English in 1980.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Immelmann, Klaus 1935 births 1987 deaths German ornithologists Ethologists Ornithological writers 20th-century German zoologists