The legendary New Zealand ornithologist, Don Merton, died on April 11th.
He is remembered by scientists, the New Zealand public and birdwatchers around the world for having exemplified what the poet William Blake (and one of his noteworthy followers, Albert Schweitzer) must have meant when Blake wrote, “A robin redbreast in a cage, Puts all Heaven in a rage.
” Merton saved some keynote (or “flagship”) species from extinction, including the only flightless parrot in the world, New Zealand’s endemic Kakapo, as well as New Zealand’s Chatham Island Black Robin.
more ForbesHe is remembered by scientists, the New Zealand public and birdwatchers around the world for having exemplified what the poet William Blake (and one of his noteworthy followers, Albert Schweitzer) must have meant when Blake wrote, “A robin redbreast in a cage, Puts all Heaven in a rage.
” Merton saved some keynote (or “flagship”) species from extinction, including the only flightless parrot in the world, New Zealand’s endemic Kakapo, as well as New Zealand’s Chatham Island Black Robin.
