12 Facts About Phyllis Barclay-Smith

Ida Phyllis Barclay-Smith was a British ornithologist and editor of the Avicultural Magazine.

Phyllis Barclay-Smith studied at Blackheath high school and King's College, London and joined as an assistant secretary to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in 1924.

At the International Ornithological Congress of 1930 Barclay-Smith spoke on oil pollution and sea birds.

Phyllis Barclay-Smith resigned from the RSPB in 1935, partly due to being denied the position of secretary after the retirement of Linda Gardiner, a position for which Robert Preston Donaldson was recruited.

Phyllis Barclay-Smith then joined the ICBP and worked almost lifelong at the Council, becoming a secretary in 1946 and secretary-general in 1974.

Phyllis Barclay-Smith's strengths were in building organizations, ensuring communication, collaboration and participation within and across an international network of scientists, civil servants and politicians.

Phyllis Barclay-Smith helped in bridging aviculturists and ornithologists, serving as editor of the Avicultural Magazine from 1938.

Phyllis Barclay-Smith helped establish the International Wildfowl Research Bureau, and helped in raising awareness on insecticide risks.

Phyllis Barclay-Smith helped in rallying support for the establishment of the Cousin Island reserve in the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean.

Phyllis Barclay-Smith earned the nickname of the dragon, a nickname shared by her aunt Etta Lemon.

Phyllis Barclay-Smith died on 2 January 1980, five days after going into coma following a severe stroke on Christmas Day, 1979, at the Whittington Hospital, Islington, London.

Phyllis Barclay-Smith was made MBE in 1958 for her services to conservation, CBE for 1970, and awarded Ridder of the Most Excellent Order of the Golden Ark by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.