Ian J. Mason

Ian James Mason is an Australian ornithologist and taxonomist who has been Senior Collection Manager for the Australian National Wildlife Collection. He is an authority on oology. ^[1]

Mason, along with Richard Schodde, has been a proponent of one of two differing taxonomic authorities for Australian birds. Mason and Schodde rely more on morphological analysis, while Les Christidis and Walter E. Boles, relying heavily on modern genetic studies, have been proponents of a differing taxonomy. ^[2]

According to Walter J. Bock, Schodde and Mason "built up the largest current Australian collection of Australian birds with excellent label data at CSIRO-Wildlife in Canberra." ^[3]

Publications

As well as writing numerous scientific papers, Mason has collaborated on several books about birds.

• 1980 – Nocturnal Birds of Australia. (With Richard Schodde. Illustrations by Jeremy Boot). Lansdowne Editions: Melbourne. (Whitley Medal 1981). ^[4]
• Schodde, Richard; ——— (1997). Aves: Columbidae to Coraciidae. Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 37.2. Collingwood: CSIRO. ISBN   0-643-06037-5. ^[5]
• 1998 – CSIRO List of Australian Vertebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. (With Richard Schodde, M. Stanger, M Clayton, and J. Wombey). CSIRO Publishing. ISBN   0-643-06256-4 ^[6]
• 1999 – The Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines. A taxonomic and zoogeographic atlas of the biodiversity of birds of Australia and its territories. (With Richard Schodde). CSIRO Publishing. ISBN   0-643-06456-7 ^[7]

• Mason, Ian J.; Pfitzner, Gilbert H. (2020). Passions in ornithology: a century of Australian egg collectors. Canberra: CanPrint Communications Pty Ltd. ISBN   9780646820798. ^[8]

References

1. "Mr Ian Mason: documenting Australia's wildlife". CSIRO. Archived from the original on 16 November 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
2. Benesh, Chris (2017). "The Essential Tool for Birding Australia [a review of The Australian Bird Guide, by Peter Menkhorst, Danny Rogers, Rohan Clarke, Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack, and Kim Franklin]". Birding. 49 (6): 65–66. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
3. Bock, Walter (July 2000). "The Directory of Australian Birds. Passeriformes: A Taxonomic and Zoogeographic Atlas of the Biodiversity of Birds in Australia and its Territories". The Auk. 117 (3): 841–842. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
4. Reviewed in
   • Penhallurick, J.M.; Mees, G.; Short, Lester L.; Horne, Jennifer F. M.; McNamara, J. A.; Marchant, S.; Brooker, M. G.; Melville, R. V. (August 1982). "Reviews". Emu - Austral Ornithology. 82 (3): 182–188. doi:10.1071/MU9820182.
   • Holmes, G (1981). "Book Review: Nocturnal Birds of Australia" (PDF). Corella. 5 (5): 120.
5. Reviewed in
   • Debus, Stephen (20 March 2021). "Zoological catalogue of Australia 37.2, Aves (Columbidae to Coraciidae) [Book Review]". Australian Bird Watcher. 17 (6): 315–316. doi:10.3316/informit.476873652037565 . Retrieved 11 February 2026.
6. Reviewed in
   • Presland, Gary (April 2007). "CSIRO List of Australian Vertebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. Second Edition [Book Review]". The Victorian Naturalist. 124 (2): 127. ISSN   0042-5184.
7. Reviewed in
   • Bock, Walter (July 2000). "The Directory of Australian Birds. Passeriformes: A Taxonomic and Zoogeographic Atlas of the Biodiversity of Birds in Australia and its Territories". The Auk. 117 (3): 841–842. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
8. Reviewed in
   • Birkhead, Tim R. (April 2021). "MASON, Ian J. and PFITZNER, Gilbert H. Passions in ornithology: a century of Australian egg collectors". Archives of Natural History. 48 (1): 197–198. doi:10.3366/anh.2021.0709.
   • Horton, Phillipa (February 2021). "Passions in Ornithology: A Century of Australian Egg Collectors. Ian J. Mason and Gilbert H. Pfitzner, 2020" (PDF). South Australian Ornithologist. 45 (2): 125–127. Retrieved 11 February 2026.