Jiro Kikkawa

Who is Jiro Kikkawa?

Professor Jiro Kikkawa AM is a Japanese Australian ornithologist. His early zoological studies were in Japan and at Oxford University in England. He subsequently spent three years at the University of Otago in New Zealand where he began what was to become an enduring focus of research, the behavioural ecology of Silvereyes and other species of Zosterops.

In 1961 he moved to Australia, first to the University of New England at Armidale, and then to the University of Queensland. As well as his studies on white-eyes he is well known for his studies on the biogeography of Australian rainforest birds.

After joining the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union in 1961, he served on the RAOU Taxonomic Committee as well as on the editorial board of the RAOU journal Emu. In 1999 he was awarded the D.L. Serventy Medal for outstanding published work on birds in the Australasian region. As well as numerous published scientific papers, he has authored and edited several books.