Gisela Kaplan

Gisela Kaplan AM
Education	Monash University BA(Hons), DipEd, MA, PhD (1984) University of Queensland PhD(Vet.Sc.) (2005)
Known for	Research in vocal behaviour, animal communication and cognition
Scientific career
Fields	Ethology, ornithology, primatology
Institutions	Monash University, University of New England
Theses	The Politics of Survival (a critical study in Sociology of Literature)  (1984) The Vocal Behaviour of Australian Magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen)  (2005)

Gisela Kaplan AM FRSN is an Australian ethologist who primarily specialises in ornithology and primatology. She is a professor emeritus in animal behaviour at the University of New England, Australia, ^[1] and also honorary professor of the Queensland Brain Institute. ^[2]

Academic career

Kaplan graduated from Monash University with a Doctor of Philosophy. ^[1]

She published her first book with Clive Kessler, Hannah Arendt: Thinking, Judging, Freedom in 1989, ^[3] followed by Contemporary Western European Feminism in 1990. ^[4] In 2005, she submitted a second thesis, titled Vocal behaviour of Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen). ^[5]

In 2011, Kaplan was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science by the University of New England. ^[6] In 2015, she was conferred honorary fellow of the American Ornithological Society. ^[7] The following year, she was awarded the status of emeritus professor by the University of New England. ^[8] She also received the Whitley Award in Behavioural Zoology for her book Bird Minds in 2017. ^[9]

She has given interviews for ABC Radio. ^[10]

In March 2021 Kaplan was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales. ^[11] She was appointed an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia in the 2024 Australia Day Honours for her "significant service to science education through research into animal behaviour". ^[12]

Personal life

In the 1990s, she began hand-raising and rehabilitating native birds, which she continues to do in her spare time. ^[13]

Publications

Kaplan has published over 250 research articles and 23 books in total; since 2000 predominantly focussing on animal vocal behaviour, communication and cognition specifically in birds and primates. ^[1]

Honours

• Appointed (Honorary) Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the General Division in the 2024 Australia Day Honours, “for significant service to science education through research into animal behaviour.” ^[14]
• Whitley Awards (Royal Zoological Society of NSW): *Bird Minds: Cognition and Behaviour of Australian Native Birds* received a **2016 Whitley Award Commendation (Behavioural Zoology)**. ^{[15] [16]}

Public engagement

Kaplan has appeared on the ABC’s long-running interview program *Conversations*, discussing animal cognition and her early life; in 2021 she spoke with Sarah Kanowski in an episode titled “The blue budgie in Berlin - Gisela Kaplan’s story.” ^[17]

Selected books

• Kaplan, G. (2019) Bird Bonds. Sex, mate-choice and cognition in Australian native birds. Macmillan Australia, Sydney. ISBN   9781760554200 368 pp https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781760554200/gkaplan/
• Kaplan, Gisela (2019) Australian Magpie: Biology and Behaviour of an Unusual Songbird. 2nd edition, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. ISBN   9781486307241 pbk. 280 pp
• Kaplan, Gisela (2007, 2018) Tawny Frogmouth. 2nd ed., CSIRO, Melbourne. ISBN   9781486308163 pbk.168 pp
• Kaplan Gisela (2015) Bird Minds. Cognition and behaviour of Australian nativespecies. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. ISBN   9781486300181 286 pp
• Kaplan, Gisela (2004, 2005, 2008) Australian Magpie: Biology and Behaviour of anUnusual Songbird. Natural History Series, University of New South Wales Press, Sydney & CSIRO 1st ed., Melbourne. ISBN   0-643 09068 1 pbk.142 pp
• Kaplan, G (2005) The Vocal Behaviour of Australian Magpies (Gymnorhinatibicen): A Study of Vocal Development, Song Learning, Communication andMimicry in the Australian Magpie. ^[5] PhD thesis, School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane.
• Rogers, Lesley J. and Kaplan, Gisela eds. (2004) Comparative Vertebrate Cognition:Are Primates Superior to Non-primates? Kluwer Primatology Series: Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospect. Kluwer Academic /Plenum Publishers, New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow. ISBN   0-306-47727-0 Hbk, 386 pp
• Kaplan, G (2003) Famous Australian Birds. Allen & Unwin, Melbourne. ISBN   1 86508 835 8 Hbk 48 pp
• Kaplan, G and Rogers, LJ (2001) Birds. Their Habits and Skills, Allen & Unwin, Sydney. ISBN   1 86508 376 3, 272 pp
• Kaplan, G and Rogers, L.J. (2000) The Orang-utans. Their Evolution, Behavior, and Future. Perseus Publishing, Cambridge, Mass. ISBN   0 7382 0290 8 (re-edited from 1999), 191 pp
• Rogers, L.J. and Kaplan, G (2000) Songs, Roars and Rituals. Communication in birds, mammals and other animals. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (completely rev. version of 1998 pub. Not Only Roars and Rituals). ISBN   0674000587, 207 pp
• Kaplan, G and Rogers, LJ (1994) Orang-Utans in Borneo, University of New England Press. ISBN   1-875821-13-9, 196 pp

Selected book chapters

• Rogers, L.J. and Kaplan, G. (2024) Advances in understanding cognition in animals. Ch.4 in L.Levitt, D. B. Rosengard, J.Rubin (eds.) Animals as Crime Victims: Multidisciplinary implications of moving beyond the property paradigm. (pp.53-66) Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802209884.00012
• Palmer, G.C., Kaplan, G,. Teixeira, D., Stojanovic, D., Peters, A., Douglas, T.K. (2022) “Perching birds and parrots”, pp. 584-592 (Ch 33) in Wildlife Research in Australia (Eds B Smith, HP Waudby, C Alberthsen & JO Hampton). CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
• Kaplan, G. (2021) You can make friends with magpies. Here is how. In: A. Hansen (Ed.) No, you’re not entitled to your opinion. And 49 other essays that got the world talking. Thames & Hudson Australia., Port Melbourne.
• Rogers, LJ and Kaplan G (2019) Does functional lateralization in birds have any implications for their welfare? Special Issue: Brain Functional Lateralization in Animals. (Ed. A. Quaranta). Symmetry, 11, 1043; doi:10.3390/sym11081043
• Kaplan, G (2018). Passerine Cognition. (10,000-word entry): In: Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Ed. by Jennifer Vonk, Todd K. Shackelford, Springer International Publishing AG/Nature, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
• Kaplan, G (2016) Don Quixote's Windmills. Ch. 14 in Thinking about Animals in the Age of the Anthropocene. (eds. M. Tønnessen, K. Armstrong-Oma and S. Rattasepp) pp. 284–305. Lexington Books (imprint of Rowman & Littlefield). New York, London.
• Kaplan, G (2008). The Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen): An alternative model for the study of songbird neurobiology. In P. Zeigler and P. Marler (eds). The Neuroscience of Birdsong. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, ISBN   9780521869157 pp. 153–170.
• Rogers, LJ and Kaplan, G (2005). An Eye for a Predator: Lateralization in birds, with particular reference to the Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen). Behavioral and Morphological Asymmetries in Vertebrates, eds. Yegor Malashichev and Wallace Deckel. Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, TX. ISBN   1-58706-105-8 (online)
• Kaplan, G and Rogers, LJ (2004) Charles Darwin and animal behavior. In M. Bekoff and Jane Goodall (eds.) Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior. 3 vols, Greenwood Publishing, Westport, CT, ISBN   0-313-32745-9, vol.2, pp. 471–479 (introductory essay to vol.2).
• Kaplan, G (2004) Magpie Mimicry. In M. Bekoff and Jane Goodall (eds.) Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior. 3 vols., Greenwood Publishing, Westport, CT, ISBN   0-313-32745-9, vol.2, pp. 772–774
• Rogers, LJ and Kaplan, G (2004) All animals are not equal: the interface between scientific knowledge and the legislation for animal rights. In: CR Sunstein and M Nussbaum (eds.) Animal Rights: Law and Policy. Oxford University Press, Oxford, ISBN   0-19-515217-4, pp. 175–204.
• Kaplan, Gisela (2004). "Meaningful Communication in Primates, Birds, and Other Animals". Comparative Vertebrate Cognition. pp. 189–223. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-8913-0_6. ISBN   978-1-4613-4717-0. In Rogers, LJ and Kaplan, G (eds) Comparative Vertebrate Cognition: Are Primates Superior to Nonprimates? Kluwer Primatology Series: Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospect. Kluwer Academic /Plenum Publishers, New York.
• Kaplan, G (1998). Economic Development and Ecotourism in Malaysia. The Shaping of Malaysia. Eds. A Kaur & I Metcalfe, St. Martin's Press. London, New York. ISBN   1349270792 , 9781349270798
• Kaplan, Gisela (1999). "Environment and Ecotourism". The Shaping of Malaysia. pp. 173–195. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-27079-8_8. ISBN   978-1-349-27081-1. In: Kaur A., Metcalfe I. (eds) The Shaping of Malaysia. Studies in the Economies of East and South-East Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, London
• Kaplan, G.; Rogers, L. (1995). "Of Human Fear and Indifference". The Neglected Ape. pp. 3–12. doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-1091-2_1. ISBN   978-1-4899-1093-6. In RD Nader, B Galdikas, L Sheehan & N Rosen (eds.) The Neglected Ape. Plenum Press, New York

References

1. "Staff profile: G Kaplan". University of New England. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
2. "Staff Directory – Professor Gisela Kaplan". Queensland Brain Institute / University of Queensland. Archived from the original on 15 April 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
3. Kaplan, Gisela T.; Kessler, Clive S. (1989). Hannah Arendt: Thinking, Judging, Freedom. Allen & Unwin. ISBN   978-0049201095.
4. Kaplan, Gisela (21 March 2014). Contemporary Western European Feminism. Routledge. ISBN   978-0415752213.
5. "2005 Thesis by Gisela Kaplan". Trove – National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
6. "Honorary Degree Recipients since 1955 and Emeritus Professor Awardees since 1964". University of New England. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
7. "Results of AOU Elections, 2015". Ornithology Exchange – American Ornithological Society. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
8. "Emeritus Professor Gisela Kaplan". University of New England – Staff Directory. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
9. "Whitley Awards – Commendation Awards". Royal Zoological Society of NSW. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
10. "Talking magpies, grieving tawny frogmouths and canny galahs". ABC. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 8 November 2019.
11. "1292nd Ordinary General Meeting" (PDF). The Royal Society of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
12. "Emeritus Professor Gisela Kaplan [H]". Australian Honours Search Facility. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
13. "Talking magpies, grieving tawny frogmouths and canny galahs – Gisela Kaplan in conversation with Sarah Kanowski". 8 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
14. "(Honorary) Member of the Order of Australia (AM) – Emeritus Professor Gisela Kaplan" (PDF). University of New England. 26 January 2024. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
15. "Bird Minds – Cognition and Behaviour of Australian Native Birds". CSIRO Publishing. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
16. "Bird Minds (eBook) – Recipient of a 2016 Whitley Award commendation for Behavioural Zoology". Perlego. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
17. "The blue budgie in Berlin - Gisela Kaplan's story". ABC Radio National – Conversations. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2025.

External links

• "Talking magpies, grieving tawny frogmouths and canny galahs": Gisela Kaplan in conversation with Sarah Kanowski