Percy A. Taverner

Percy Algernon Taverner (June 10 1875-May 9 1947) was a Canadian ornithologist.

He was born Percy Algernon Fowler in Guelph, Ontario in 1875. When his parents separated and his mother remarried, he took on his new parent's surname. Taverner, a self-taught naturalist, was the first ornithologist at the National Museum of Canada, now the Canadian Museum of Nature, from 1912 to 1942. He helped establish Point Pelee National Park and a number of bird sanctuaries across Canada, including Bonaventure Island.

Books by Taverner include:

• Birds of Eastern Canada (1919)
• Birds of Western Canada (1926)
• Birds of Canada (1934)

He died in Ottawa in 1947.

The Taverner Cup, a 24 hour competitive birdathon held in eastern Ontario and western Quebec, is named after him.

The Timberline Sparrow, currently considered to be a sub-species of Brewer's Sparrow, and a sub-species of Canada Goose were given the name taverneri in his honour.

Reference

• The Auk: Vol. 65, No. 1, January-March, 1948