Len Howard

Who was Len Howard?

Gwendolen Howard was a British naturalist and musician. She is known for the unique amateur bird studies that were published in various periodicals and two books under her pseudonym, Len Howard.

Gwendolen Howard was the last of four children born to Henry Newman Howard, the British poet and dramatist, and Florence Howard, née Warman. Born in the town of Wallington, Howard lived with her family in various homes throughout England and Wales before beginning a music career in London, where she gave music lessons, organized concerts for children of the poor, and played viola in an orchestra under Malcolm Sargent. In 1938, Howard purchased a plot of land outside the village of Ditchling and arranged for construction of the home she later called "Bird Cottage."

Once resident in Bird Cottage, Howard developed an intimate, cohabitational relationship with the wild birds in the area, providing food, chasing away predators, tending to damaged nests, and allowing the birds to fly and roost throughout her home. Around 1949, Howard began publishing her field notes and "bird biographies" in British natural history periodicals, and in 1950 her first book was published by Collins Press.