James David Macdonald (ornithologist)

James David Macdonald FRSE (3 October 1908 – 17 September 2002) was a Scottish-Australian ornithologist and ornithological writer. A traditional museum ornithologist, he did much to build up the collections of African and Australian birds held by the British Museum, as well as popularising ornithology through his writings.

Macdonald was born in the village of Foyers, 32 km (20 mi) from Inverness in Scotland. He attended Foyers Public School from 1913 to 1924 before obtaining a bursary to complete his secondary education at the Inverness Royal Academy, from which he graduated Dux in Art in 1927. He studied natural science at the University of Aberdeen, graduating with a BSc in Forestry in 1930 and in Pure Science (botany and zoology) in 1932, following which he carried out research on decapod crustaceans with the Scottish Fisheries Board and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory.

In 1935 Macdonald was appointed to a position at the British Natural History Museum in London where he was, despite his protestations of complete ignorance about birds, placed in the bird section as Assistant Keeper. Apart from service with the British Admiralty during the Second World War, he stayed with the museum for the rest of his career, becoming Senior Scientific Officer in charge of the Bird Room and Deputy Keeper of the Zoology Department by the time of his retirement in 1968.

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