Hugh Whistler

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Hugh Whistler (1889 - July 7, 1943), F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. was an English ornithologist.

Whistler was born in Mablethorpe and educated at Aldenham School. He served with the Indian police in the Punjab province from 1909 to 1926. Whistler studied and collected birds and on retiring to England he continued his researches into Indian ornithology. He also make collecting trips to Spain and Albania, often in the company of Claud Buchanan Ticehurst. Whistler's publications include the Popular Handbook of Indian Birds (1928). Two more editions of this publication were produced and the last was produced after his death. In this work he foresaw the value of popularizing observation based ornithology:

The day is now over in which it was necessary to collect large series of skins and eggs in India. Enough general collecting has been done; concentration on filling in the gaps in our knowledge is now needed. Those who wish to help in the work should first familiarise themselves with what has been accomplished and learn what remains to be done. With some species the distribution of the different races still needs to be worked out and this implies careful collecting in certain areas. Of other species we still need to know the plumage changes; for this specimens collected at certain times of the year are required. In other species the down and juvenile plumages are unknown. But the greatest need of all is accurate observations on status and migration. In this all can help. Keep full notes for a year on the birds of your station, noting those that are resident and the times of arrival and departure, comparative abundance and scarcity of all the migratory kinds; and you will have made a contribution to ornithology that will in the measure of its accuracy and fullness be a help to every other worker.

Whistler lived at Battle, East Sussex during his retirement, where he was a Justice of the Peace. He joined the British Ornithologists' Union in 1913 and in 1940 served as its as Vice-President. He visited Kashmir with Admiral Lynes and wanted to produce an account of the birds of Punjab and Kashmir, however this was not completed. The Whistler Prize of Sussex University, awarded to the best essay on natural history or archaeology, is named after him. His collection of 17,000 bird skins is now at the Natural History Museum.