The 27th April 2026 is International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day. To mark this, and the 350th anniversary of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the Common Raven in Ornithologia. Willughby gave its common English name as the Raven and also knew it as Corvus. In 1758, Carl Linnaeus gave it the taxonomical binominal name of Corvus corax, by which name it is still known today. The Raven in Francis Willughby

The 25th April 2026 is World Penguin Day. To mark this, and the 350th anniversary of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of a description of a penguin in Ornithologia. The species in Ornithologia that actually bore the name penguin was the now extinct species known today as the Great Auk. The Great Auk is considered by many as the “original penguin”. When Western seamen visited the Southern Hemisphere and came across birds with a

The 21st April 2026 is World Curlew Day. To mark this, and the 350th anniversary of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the Eurasian Curlew from Ornithologia. Willughby gave the common English name of this bird as the Curlew, but noted that the males were often called the Jack Curlew. He also provided an alternative name of Numenius sive Arquata. In 1758, Carl Linnaeus gave it the taxonomical binominal name o

The 20th April 2026 is International Cuckoo Day. To mark this, and the 350th anniversary of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the Common Cuckoo in Ornithologia. Willughby knew this bird by the name of Cuckow or Cuculus. In 1758, Linnaeus gave it the taxonomical binominal name of Cuculus canorus, which remains its modern name. The Cuckoo in Francis Willughby's Ornithologia In Ornithologia, the Cuckoo’s leng

The 14th April 2026 is World Puffin Day. To mark this, and the 350th anniversary of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the Atlantic Puffin from Ornithologia. In Francis Willughby’s time, the bird that is known as the Puffin today was not known as it in England. Confusingly, what was known as the Puffin in England in his time is today known as the Manx Shearwater. Ornithologia provides many British folk names

The 22nd–26th March 2026 is World Osprey Week. To mark this, as well as the 350th anniversary of the year of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the Osprey provided in Ornithologia. The Osprey is particularly problematic in Ornithologia. The size and other characteristics of the Osprey caused significant problems for Willughby, Ray and other later naturalists because it was an intermediate species that did no

The 20th March 2026 is World Sparrow Day. To mark this, as well as the 350th anniversary of the year of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the House Sparrow provided in Ornithologia. World Sparrow Day aims to raise awareness of the declining population of the House Sparrow, which has declined by over 60% since the 1970s in the UK and has faced a similar decline worldwide in the same time period. The cause of

The 19th March 2026 is National Poultry Day. To mark this and the 350th anniversary of the year of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on the various medicinal uses for chickens that were detailed in Ornithologia. It is known that Francis Willughby and John Ray prepared medicines using the stills in the Stone Building at Middleton Hall. PLEASE NOTE: none of the medicinal uses detailed in this post are advised today. However, a few do bear

The 18th March 2026 is World Eagle Day and to mark this, as well as the 350th anniversary of the year of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the Golden Eagle provided in Ornithologia. Willughby wrote that the English countrymen called this bird simply the Eagle, without any epithet of distinction, as if it were the Eagle of Eagles. It came to England yearly to build its nest and breed, especially upon the hig

The 2nd February 2026 is World Ostrich Day and to mark this, as well as the 350th anniversary of the year of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on some of the description of the ostrich provided in Ornithologia. Francis Willughby and John Ray had actually seen an ostrich. They saw it on their European Tour, on 30th April 1663, when they were in Brussels, in what is today Belgium. They wrote that between Coudenberg Palace and Bruxelles Pa

The 17th January is World Waterfowl Day, the purpose of which is to raise public awareness, knowledge and interest in various species of waterfowl such as ducks, swans and geese. Therefore, in this post, we will be raising awareness of one species of waterfowl mentioned in Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia that is known today as the Mute Swan. In Ornithologia, Willughby called the Mute Swan the Tame Swan or Cygnus mansuetus . Furthermore, in his earlier Catalogue of English Bi

The 5th January is National Bird Day! Birds are a very important historic topic at Middleton Hall and in 2026 they are especially so because it is also the 350th anniversary of the first publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia. In 1672, John Ray made a deathbed promise to Francis Willughby to finish Willughby’s work on natural history. With the publication of Ornithologia (Ornithology), which he compiled whilst still at Middleton Hall, Ray fulfilled part of his promis