Person

Robinson, Angus Hargreaves (1907 - 1973)

Born
22 July 1907
London, England
Died
17 October 1973
Occupation
Farmer and Ornithologist

Summary

Angus Robinson was a property owner in Western Australia and an amateur ornithologist. He was an Australian pioneer in the study of territory and the associated functions of song among Australian birds. He also realised the importance of opportunism in breeding among the birds of semi-arid regions, and his published data on unseasonal nesting provided important raw material for intensive studies by later ornithologists.

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Details

Born London, England, 22 July 1907. Died Coolup, Western Australia, 17 October 1973. Came to Australia when he was a few months old. Educated Scotch College, Perth. Jackaroo, The Peake Station, Onslow 1923-26; overseer, then manager, Ullawarra Station 1926-34; purchased "Yanjettee", Coolup, 1935. In February, 1960, as a member of the Fauna Protection Advisory Committee, he drew attention to the possibilities of the Barlee Range as a nature reserve (gazetted in May 1963). His discovery that groups of magpies, rather than pairs, form territorial units attracted the attention of A.J. Marshall (q.v.) and a grant from the CSIRO Science and Industry Endowment Fund in 1950. Honorary Life Member, Western Australian Naturalists' Club 1968; Fellow, Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union 1970. Australian representative, International Ornitholoigcal Congress, The Hague 1970. Member, Fauna Protection Advisory Committee 1955-68; Member, Western Australian Wildlife Authority 1968-73; first chairman, South West Coastal Committee; member, wool committee, Farmers' Union; member of the executive, Pastoralists' and Graziers' Association.

Chronology

1950
Award - Funding to investigate territorial behaviour of magpies, Science and Industry Endowment Fund

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Resources

See also

  • Robin, Libby, The Flight of the Emu: a Hundred Years of Australian Ornithology 1901-2001 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2001), 492 pp. Details
  • Smith, Susan and Spurling, Thomas H., 'The Science and Industry Endowment Fund: supporting the development of Australian science', Historical Records of Australian Science, 26 (1) (2015), 58-83, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR14027. Details

Rosanne Walker

Created: 30 June 1997, Last modified: 5 March 2018

EOAS ID: biogs/P003077b.htm

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