Jonathan Elphick

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Jonathan Elphick is a Natural history author, editor and consultant. He is an eminent Ornithologist, a qualified Zoologist and Fellow of the Zoological Society of London. He is the author of The Birdwatcher's Handbook: A Guide to the Birds of Britain and Ireland [1] and The Art of Ornithology[2], The Atlas of Bird Migration: Tracing the Great Journeys of the World's Birds [3]; as well as co-author of the Encyclopedia of Animals [4]. He has also been consultant, editor or author on a variety of other books and CD-ROMs including Coastline with Greenpeace, and the BBC production of The Realms of the Russian Bear.[5].

Contents

[edit] Background and Education

Jonathan Elphick was brought up in North Wales, surrounded by a mountainous and beautiful mosaic of habitats: including traditional mixed farmland, woods, rivers, lakes, hills and coastlines.[6]. Birdlife in North Wales in the early 1950s was relatively unaffected by agricultural developments and other changes, that proved to be major factors in the decline of many British birds.

Inspired by the writings of Bruce Campbell one of the foremost ornithologists of the day, Elphick's journey through ornitholigal literature began with the paperback Bird Watching for Beginners and Campbell's Birds in Colour. Migrating from the Bird Recognition paperback guides (by the ornithologist James Fisher [7]) he came under the influence of the Nature Conservancy warden at Newborough Warren National Nature Reserve, on the Isle of Anglesey, Peter Hope-Jones. In 1969 Elphick gained a Zoology degree and secured a job as a Natural history editor, working as an in-house editor for various publishers including Dorling Kindersley[8], eventually going freelance and specialising in Birds.

[edit] Themes and Interests

[edit] Art and Ornithology

The Natural History Museum in London is the repository for some half a million works on paper and one million books, which are the sources for some exceptionally beautiful and important images of birds. Many are from rare sources. Elphick's work is a selection of images from this archive, including the work of naturalists and scientists such as John James Audubon and Alexander von Humboldt, along with Victorian explorers, who catalogued the world’s avifauna before the age of photography. It also documents the work of many natural history artists, such as John Gould, William MacGillivray and Ferdinand Bauer. The text interweaves ornithological science, art history, biography, travel and other aspects of the subject to paint a picture of the artists and the birds they painted. [9]

[edit] Latest Work

[edit] Birds and People

Elphick's latest project with foremost British wildlife photographer David Tipling and the naturalist and author Mark Cocker, is Birds and People[10]. Birds and People is a ten-year long, groundbreaking collaboration between the publishers Random House and BirdLife International, to survey and document worldwide, the cultural significance of birds. The Birds and People project involves an open internet forum, for individuals world-wide to document their reflections, experiences and stories about bird.. The final book is intended as a global chorus on the relationship between human beings and birds.


[edit] References

  1. ^ The Birdwatchers Handbook - A Guide to the Birds of Britain and Ireland, Elphick J. pub. by BBC Worldwide, with illustrations by Richard Allen, Robert Gillmor, Ren Hathway, Peter Hayman, David Quinn, Owen Williams, Martin Woodcock and Colin Woolf.
  2. ^ The Art of Ornithology, Elphick J. Published Rizzoli, 2005
  3. ^ The Atlas of Bird Migration: Tracing the Great Journeys of the World's Birds , Elphick.J. Pub. Struik Publishers, 2007
  4. ^ Encyclopedia of Animals by Jonathan Elphick, Jen Green and Barbara Taylor Pub. Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Incorporated, 2006
  5. ^ Surfbirds.com
  6. ^ Surfbirds.com
  7. ^ eg WATCHING BIRDS, Fisher. J. pub. in London by Collins 1941
  8. ^ See for example Mammal by Dorling Kindersley. Publishing Staff, Smithsonian Institution, David Burnie, Jonathan Elphick, Steve Parker, Christopher Norris
  9. ^ Natural History Museum, Art and History Section
  10. ^ Birds and People website[1]


[edit] External Links