Snow, D.W.

David William Snow (30 September 1924 – 4 February 2009) was an English ornithologist born in Windermere, Westmorland.

Career and personal life

He won a scholarship to Eton and started there in 1938 just before his 14th birthday. He won a scholarship to study classics at New College, Oxford but was called up to serve in the navy in April 1943 and served on several ships including destroyers, frigates, and sloops. After the end of World War II, he spent a year sailing through the Far East and to Australia. In 1946 he returned to Oxford and switched from classics to the study of zoology, earning a D.Phil degree in 1953.

In 1958, David married Barbara Kathleen Whitaker, who was the warden of Lundy Island. Barbara Snow was also a noted ornithologist and a geologist. From 1957 to 1961 the Snows worked for the New York Zoological Society at the society's research centre in Trinidad. Here they made detailed studies of the oilbirds (''Steatornis caripensis'') and the fascinating and very complex courtship dances of the white-bearded manakin (''Manacus manacus'') and the golden-headed manakin (''Pipra erythrocephala'').

From 1963 to 1964 he was the Director of the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) in the Galapagos Islands. He was Director of CDRS during the landmark expedition mounted from the University of California at Berkeley called the Galápagos International Scientific Project (GISP). He was also Director of Research for the British Trust for Ornithology from 1964 to 1968, and from 1968 to 1984 he worked at the Natural History Museum. From 1987 to 1990 he was president of the British Ornithologists' Union.

David Snow edited '' The Ibis'', ''Bird Study'' and the '' Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club''.

Snow is commemorated in the name of the cotinga genus '' Snowornis'' and the critically endangered Alagoas antwren (''Myrmotherula snowi'').

"With his wife, Barbara, Snow made a huge contribution to our understanding of the evolutionary consequences of fruit-eating in birds. In a series of studies of tropical birds, he theorised that the colourful plumage and elaborate mating rituals of male manakins and similar species derived from the fact that copious supplies of fruit enabled the birds to secure adequate daily calories with only a small percentage of their time devoted to feeding. This left them plenty of opportunity to develop elaborate rituals to impress the dowdier females. In England, the Snows spent five years carrying out systematic observations of fruit-eating birds in a small area on the Hertfordshire-Buckinghamshire borders, publishing their results in the seminal Birds and Berries (1988)."

Following Barbara's death in 2007, he published ''Birds in Our Life'', an account of their lives and their close ornithological partnership.

Snow died at age 84 and is survived by two sons.

Awards

In 1972 David and his wife Barbara were joint recipients of the American Ornithologists' Union's Brewster Medal.The Times of London obituary
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He was elected president of the British Ornithologists' Union and in 1982 was awarded its Godman-Salvin Medal for outstanding contributions to ornithology.

Works

* Snow, D.W. (1953). "The migration of the Greenland Wheatear." ''Ibis'' 95(2):376–378
* Snow, D.W. (1958). "The breeding of the Blackbird ''Turdus merula'' at Oxford." ''Ibis'' 100(1):1-30
* Snow, D.W. (1958). ''A Study of Blackbirds.'' George Allen and Unwin, London.
* Snow, D.W. (1961). "The displays of the manakins ''Pipra pipra'' and ''Tyranneutes virescens''." ''Ibis'' 103A(1):110–113
* Snow, D.W. (1961). "The Natural History of the Oilbird,''Steatornis caripensis'', in Trinidad, W.I. Part 1. General Behaviour and Breeding Habits." ''Zoologica, Scientific Contributions of the New York Zoological Society'' 46(3):27–48
* Snow, D.W. (1962). "The Natural History of the Oilbird,''Steatornis caripensis'', in Trinidad, W.I. Part 2. Population, Breeding Ecology and Food." ''Zoologica, Scientific Contributions of the New York Zoological Society'' 47(16):199–221
* Snow, D.W. (1963). "The display of the Orange-headed manakin." ''Condor'' 65(1)
* Snow, D.W. & Snow, B.K. (1963). "Breeding and the annual cycle in three Trinidad thrushes." ''Wilson Bulletin'' 75(1)
* Snow, D.W. & Snow, B.K. (1964). ''Breeding seasons and annual cycles of Trinidad Land-Birds''. aperback* Snow, D.W. (1965). "The breeding of the Red-billed Tropicbird in the Galapagos Islands." ''Condor'' 67(3)
* Snow, D.W. (1965). "The breeding of the Audubon's Shearwater ''Puffinus lherminieri'' in the Galapagos." ''The Auk'' 82(4)
* Snow, D.W. (1966). '"Annual cycle of the Yellow Warbler in the Galapagos." ''J. Field Ornithology'' 37(1)
* Snow, D.W. & Snow, B.K. (1966). "The breeding season of the Madeiran Storm-petrel (Oceanodromo castro) in the Galapagos." ''Ibis'' 108(2):283–284
* Snow, D.W. & Snow, B.K. (1967). "The breeding cycle of the Swallow-tailed Gull (''Creagrus furcatus'')." ''Ibis'' 109(1):14–24
* Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1968). "Behavior of the Swallow-tailed Gull of the Galapagos." ''Condor'' 70(3):
* Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1969). "Observations on the Lava Gull (''Larus fuliginosus''). ''Ibis'' 111(1):30–35
* Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1971). "The feeding ecology of tanagers and honeycreepers in Trinidad." ''The Auk'' 88(2)
* Snow, D.W. (1971). "Display of the Pompadour Cotinga ''Xipholena punicea''." ''Ibis'' 113(1):102–104
* Snow, D.W. (1971). "Evolutionary aspects of fruit-eating by birds." ''Ibis'' 113(2):194–202
* Snow, D.W. (1971). "Social organization of the Blue-backed Manakin." ''Wilson Bulletin'' 83(1)
* Snow, D.W. & Goodwin, D. (1974). "The Black-and-gold Cotinga." ''The Auk'' 91(2)
* Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1974). "Breeding of the Green-bellied Hummingbird." ''The Auk'' 91(3)
* Snow, D.W. (1976). "The relationship between climate and annual cycles in the ''cotingidae''." ''Ibis'' 118(3):366–401
* Snow, D.W. (1976). "The web of adaptation: bird studies in the American tropics." Collins, London
* Snow, D.W. (co-editor) (1978–1997). ''Handbook of the Birds of the Western Palearctic''. Edited Stanley Cramp ''et al.''; Oxford University Press) (HBWP) (Widely known as the ''BWP'').
* Snow, D.W. ed. (1978). ''An Atlas of Speciation in African Non-Passerine Birds''. British Museum Press. .
* Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1979). "The Ochre-bellied Flycatcher and the Evolution of Lek Behavior." ''Condor'' 81(3)
* Snow, D.W. (1982). ''The Cotingas: Bellbirds, Umbrella birds and their allies.'' British Museum Press.
* Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1984). "Long-term defence of fruit by Mistle Thrushes Turdus viscivorus." ''Ibis'' 126(1):39–49
* Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1985). "Display and related behavior of male Pin-tailed Manakins." ''Wilson Bulletin'' 97(3):
* Snow, D.W. (1987) ''The Blackbird.'' Shire Natural History. .
* Snow, B.K. & Snow, D.W. (1988). ''Birds and berries: a study of an ecological interaction.'' Poyser, London. .
* Snow, D.W. ed. (1992) ''Birds, Discovery and Conservation: 100 years of the British Ornithologists' Club'' (editor), Helm Information
* Willis, E.O.; Snow, D.W.; Stotz, D.F. & Parker III, T.A. (1993) '' Olive-sided Flycatchers in Southeastern Brazil'' Wilson Bulletin 105(1):
* Snow, D.W. et al. (1998).''The Birds of the Western Palearctic: 2 Volume Set: Volume 1, Non-Passerines; Volume 2, Passerines'' bridged, Box set ardcover Oxford University Press, US; Concise edition. .
* Snow, D.W. (editor) and Stanley Cramp (author). ''The Complete Birds of the Western Palearctic.'' ardcover Oxford University Press (Sd.). Cdr edition. .
* Prum, Richard O. & Snow, David W. (2003) ''Manakins'' in Perrins, Christopher ''The Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds''. Firefly Books. pp. 434–437. .
* Snow, D.W. (2008a) ''Obituary – Snow, B.K.'' Ibis 150(3):662–663.
* Snow, D.W. (2008b). ''Birds in Our Life''. William Sessions Limited. (pbk). An autobiography.

Footnotes

References

*Beolens, B. & Watkins, M. - ''Whose Bird?''

Further reading

* Rudder, Joy (2009). ''The old house and the dream: The story of The Asa Wright Nature Centre''. Prospect Press, Maraval, Port of Spain, Trinidad. . Especially pp. 47–49.
* See the long article in German on Barbara Kathleen Snow on the German Wikipedia at: :de:Barbara Kathleen Snow.
* Barbara Snow's obituary by David Snow may be downloaded from


* '' The Daily Telegraph'' obituar

External links

Obituary. "Goodbye to an Ornithological Great: David Snow"The Times Obituary. "David Snow: unrivalled doyen of British ornithology."

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snow, David
1924 births
2009 deaths
Employees of the Natural History Museum, London
English ornithologists
People from Windermere, Cumbria
20th-century British zoologists
Royal Navy personnel of World War II