Michael Stanley Reid Sharland (1899–1987) was an Australian

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and amateur

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 was born, and spent most of his life, in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, though he also lived and worked 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 ...

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 ...

and

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. Sharland was very active in ornithological organisations. He joined the

Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union The Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU), now part of BirdLife Australia, was Australia's largest non-government, non-profit, bird conservation organisation. It was founded in 1901 to promote the study and conservation of the native b ...

(RAOU) in 1921 and served on its Migration Committee 1926–1932, as Branch Secretary or Councillor for

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

while living in that state 1934–1941, and as Branch Secretary for Tasmania 1942–1964. He also served as RAOU President 1949–1951. In 1971 he initiated the formation of the Bird Observers Association of Tasmania. As well as numerous papers and articles, books he authored include: * 1945 - ''Tasmanian Birds. A field guide to the birds inhabiting Tasmania and adjacent islands, including the sea birds''. Mercury Press: Hobart. * 1952 - ''Stones of a Century''. Oldham, Beddome & Meredith: Hobart. * 1958 - ''Tasmanian Birds. A field guide to the birds inhabiting Tasmania and adjacent islands, including the sea birds''. Angus & Robertson: Sydney. * 1963 - ''Tasmanian Wild Life. A popular account of the furred land mammals, snakes and introduced mammals of Tasmania''. Melbourne University Press: Parkville. * 1964 - ''A Territory of Birds''. Rigby Ltd: Adelaide. * 1967 - ''Birds of the Sun''. Angus & Robertson Ltd: Sydney. * 1971 - ''A Pocketful of Nature''. The Mercury: Hobart. * 1976 - " Once Upon a Time in Tasmania....Tasmanian Tales". Davies Brothers Limited: Hobart. * 1981 - ''A Guide to the Birds of Tasmania''. Drinkwater Publishing: Hobart.

References

* Robin, Libby. (2001). ''The Flight of the Emu: a hundred years of Australian ornithology 1901-2001''. Carlton, Vic. Melbourne University Press. * Wall, Leonard E. (1987). Obituary. Michael Stanley Reid Sharland. ''

Emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...

'' 87: 133. Australian ornithologists 1899 births 1987 deaths 20th-century Australian zoologists {{Australia-ornithologist-stub