From bird census to university institute
The institute traces its origins to the Oxford Bird Census of 1927. Collaborative recording also helped stimulate the formation of the British Trust for Ornithology.
Max Nicholson, Bernard Tucker and Wilfrid Backhouse Alexander established the EGI in 1938, naming it for Viscount Grey of Falloden. Alexander was its first director; David Lack succeeded him in 1945.
The Wytham tit study
John Gibb and Lack began the Wytham tit project in 1947. Nest boxes enabled repeated breeding observations, while individual marking linked parents, offspring and subsequent records.
Expansion across the woodland and to additional tit species created a multigenerational record for investigating breeding dates, juvenile survival, territoriality and environmental change.
References: [1]
Population, behaviour and evolution
Research goes beyond counting birds. Territorial experiments, for example, examined whether birds in good habitat excluded others and how vacancies were reoccupied.
Later work compared breeding schedules with spring food supplies and tested the spread of behavioural innovations through social networks. Long-term records support these investigations, while each inference depends on its particular study design.
References: [1]
Books and field records
Alexander’s personal books formed the early nucleus of the ornithological library. After retiring as director in 1945 he became librarian; the collection was named for him in 1947.
Books, periodicals, notebooks and diaries were subsequently incorporated into Oxford’s library provision. Alongside population data, these materials preserve the history of observation and scholarly exchange.
References: [1]