{{Short description|Australian ornithologist (1934–2019)}} {{More citations needed|date=December 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} '''Clive Dudley Thomas Minton''', AM (7 October 1934 – 6 November 2019<ref name=SMH>Katie Allen (2019) [https://web.archive.org/web/20191211082724/https://www.smh.com.au/national/revolutionary-in-the-study-of-wader-birds-20191211-p53izg.html "Revolutionary in the study of wader birds"]''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 11 December 2019. Archived from [https://www.smh.com.au/national/revolutionary-in-the-study-of-wader-birds-20191211-p53izg.html original] on 11 December 2019.</ref>) was a British and Australian metallurgist, administrator, management consultant and amateur ornithologist. His interest in birds began in childhood.
==Early life== Born in England, Minton attended Oundle School and went on to complete a PhD degree in Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge.<ref name=SMH/> Although involved in studies of various species of birds, his main focus became the migratory waders. He became the founding chairman of the Wash Wader Ringing Group and was associated with the development of cannon-netting, especially as a means of catching large numbers of waders for banding and demographic studies.
==Life in Australia== In 1978, Minton moved to Australia as managing director of Imperial Metal Industries Australia in Melbourne, Victoria. There he revitalised wader studies through the introduction of cannon-netting to the Victorian Wader Study Group (VWSG), which became one of the most active banding groups in the world. He was also instrumental in the formation of the Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG) of which he was founding chair, as well as in the establishment of Broome Bird Observatory.
From the early 1980s, Minton led regular, almost annual, wader study expeditions to north-west Australia to catch and study the waders that migrate to and through the coastal strip between Roebuck Bay near Broome, Eighty Mile Beach and Port Hedland in the southern section of the East Asian – Australasian Flyway. These expeditions, along with data collected in south-eastern Australia by the VWSG, have led to major governmental conservation initiatives through the Flyway, including the Japan Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (JAMBA), the China Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (CAMBA) and the East Asian – Australasian Shorebird Site Network. He was also involved in several international wader study expeditions in North America, South America and Russia.
Minton served the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU) on its Research Committee from 1980 to 1988, and as vice-president from 1989 to 1995.
==Awards and honours== * 1975 – awarded Bernard Tucker Medal for services to ornithology<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bto.org/aboutBTO/accounts/medallists.htm|title=Medallists|date=2 June 2006|publisher=BTO|accessdate=1 December 2008}}</ref> * 1998 – elected a Fellow of the RAOU * 2000 – awarded John Hobbs Medal for outstanding contributions to ornithology as an amateur * 2001 – elected a Member of the Order of Australia for "services to ornithology, particularly in the study of migratory wading birds in Australia"<ref name=SMH/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/878275|title=Dr Clive Dudley Thomas Minton|last=|first=|date=|website=honours.pmc.gov.au|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191013001719/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/878275 |archive-date=13 October 2019 |access-date=13 October 2019}}</ref> * 2003 – awarded Australian Natural History Medallion * 2012 – awarded Eisenmann Medal
In 2003, British ornithologist Andrew Whittaker commemorated Minton in the species epithet of the cryptic forest falcon (''Micrastur mintoni'').
To honour Minton's role in the establishment of the Broome Bird Observatory, the Clive Minton Discovery Centre opened its doors on the 20 August 2021 after four years of development. The centre displays information about migratory shorebirds, with immersive soundscapes, video footage, and up-to-date scientific information.
==See also== *List of ornithologists
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.broomebirdobservatory.com/discovery-centre Clive Minton Discovery Centre at the Broome Bird Observatory] * Jessop, Rosalind; Graham, Doris; Collins, Peter; & Davidson, Rosemary. (2000). John Hobbs Medal 2000: Citation. Clive Dudley Thomas Minton. ''Emu'' 100: 247. * Robin, Libby. (2001). ''The Flight of the Emu: a hundred years of Australian ornithology 1901-2001''. Carlton, Vic. Melbourne University Press. {{ISBN|0-522-84987-3}} * Wettenhall, H. Norman. (1998). RAOU Fellow: Citation. Clive Minton MA, PhD. ''Emu'' 98: 241.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Minton, Clive Dudley Thomas}} Category:1934 births Category:2019 deaths Category:Australian ornithologists Category:British ornithologists Category:Members of the Order of Australia Category:British emigrants to Australia Category:Australian management consultants Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge Category:People educated at Oundle School