Person

Frith, Clifford Brodie (1949 - )

OAM

Born
1949
Occupation
Ornithologist and wildlife photographer

Summary

Clifford Frith and his wife Dawn, contributed greatly to Australasian ornithology. They carried out long-term studies of bower birds and birds of paradise in northern Queensland and in New Guinea and produced the first - and often the only - accounts of the nesting biology and behaviour of these species. The Friths have written more than 50 papers in international ornithological journals, and have authored an excellent series of books for a more general audience on the fauna of North Queensland. They were jointly awarded the D.L. Serventy Medal from Birds Australia in 1996.

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Details

Clifford Frith has worked on various avian and other animal groups in the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and the tropical Pacific. He has been a self-employed ornithologist, wildlife photographer and publisher and was an Honorary Research Fellow at the Queensland Museum. Before coming to Australia he held various ornithological positions including at the British Museum of Natural History and the Royal Society of London.

Chronology

1996
Award - D. L. Serventy Medal (shared with Dawnf Frith), Royal Australasian Ornithological Union
2021
Award - Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to conservation and the environment

Related Awards

Published resources

Books

  • Frith, Clifford and Frith, Dawn, A wild romance: 50 years of studying and photographing wildlife around the world (Malanda, Qld: Frith & Frith, 2023), 402 pp. Details
  • Frith, Clifford B., The Woodhen: a Flightless Island Bird Defying Extinction (Canberra: CSIRO, 2013), 240 pp. Details
  • Frith, Clifford. B. and Frith, Dawn W., Bowerbirds: nature, art & history (Malanda, Qld: Frith & Frith, 2008), 304 pp. Details
  • Frith, Clifford. B. and Frith, Dawn W., Bird of paradise: nature, art & history (Malanda, Qld: Frith & Frith, 2010), 370 pp. Details

Resources

Reviews

  • Davis, William E., Boles, Walter E, and Recher, Harry F., eds., Contributions to the history of Australasian ornithology, volume III (2017)
    Frith, Clifford B., Australian field ornithology, 36, (2019), 15-7. Details

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

Rosanne Walker

Created: 2 February 2001, Last modified: 7 July 2026

EOAS ID: biogs/P003140b.htm

This Edition: 2026 May - New Office
Chunnup - Gariwerd calendar - Winter: late May to end of July - season of cockatoos
Reference: https://www.bom.gov.au/resources/indigenous-weather-knowledge/indigenous-seasonal-calendars/gariwerd-calendar#bom-anchor-list__item-chunnup-season-of-cockatoos

Publisher: Swinburne University of Technology.

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