The following is a timeline of ornithology events:
Until 1700
1500–800 BC – The Vedas mention the habit of brood parasitism in the Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus). 4th century BC – Aristotle mentions over 170 sorts of birds in his work on animals. He recognises eight principal groups. 3rd century BC – The Erya, a Chinese encyclopedia comprising glosses on passages in ancient texts, notably the Book of Songs, features 79 entries in its chapter "Describing Birds" 1st century AD – Pliny the Elder's Historia Naturalis Book X is devoted to birds. Three groups based on characteristics of feet 2nd century AD – Aelian mentions a number of birds in his work on animals. Birds are listed alphabetically 1037 – Death of Abu ‘Ali al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Sina (known as Avicenna in Latin) author of Abbreviatio de animalibus, a homage to Aristotle c 1100 Hugh of Fouilloy authors De avibus, a moral treatise on birds later incorporated into many versions of the popular medieval bestiary. 1220 – Books on birds and other animals by Aristotle and Avicenna translated into Latin for the first time by Michael Scot 1250 – Death of Frederick II von Hohenstaufen, Holy Roman Emperor, and author of De arte venandi cum avibus ("concerning the art of hunting with birds") that describes the first manipulative experiments in ornithology and the methods of falconry 1478 – De Animalibus by Albertus Magnus is printed, which mentions many bird names. It had been written between 1260 and 1280. 1485 – First dated copy of Ortus sanitatis by Johannes de Cuba 1544 – William Turner prints a commentary on the birds mentioned by Aristotle and Pliny. 1555 – Conrad Gessner's Historic Animalium qui est de Auium natura and Pierre Belon's (Bellonius) Histoire de la nature des Oyseaux. Belon lists birds according to a definite system. 1573 – Volcher Coiter publishes his first treatise on bird anatomy 1591 – Joris Hoefnagel starts to work for Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor and produces for him 90 oil-base paintings, of which one is of the dodo. 1596 – The Compendium of Chinese Materia Medica by Li Shizhen includes a total of 77 species of bird. 1599 – Beginning of the publication of the works of Ulisse Aldrovandi on birds. 1603 – Caspar Schwenckfeld publishes the first regional fauna of Europe: Therio-tropheum Silesiae. 1605 – Clusius publishes Exoticorum libri decem ("Ten books of exotics") in which he describes many new exotic species. 1609 – The illustrated Sancai Tuhui, a Chinese encyclopedia by Wang Qi & Wang Siyi, lists a total of 113 species of bird. 1638 – Georg Marcgraf begins a voyage to Brazil where he studies the fauna and flora. 1652 – Leopoldina founded in the Holy Roman Empire. It is the oldest continuously existing learned society in the world. 1655 – Ole Worm collects a famous cabinet of curiosities whose illustrated inventory appears in 1655, Museum Wormianum. This collection comprises many birds but the techniques of conservation are not successful and they are quickly destroyed by insects. 1657 – Publication of Historiae naturalis de avibus by John Jonston. 1667 – Christopher Merrett publishes the first fauna of Great Britain, followed two years later by that of Walter Charleton. 1676 – Publication of Francis Willughby's Ornithologia by his collaborator John Ray. This is considered the beginning of scientific ornithology in Europe, revolutionizing ornithological taxonomy by organizing species according to their physical characteristics. 1681 – The last dodo dies on the island of Mauritius
18th century 1702 – Ferdinand Johann Adam von Pernau publishes a popular pioneering essay on bird behaviour. 1710 – Osservatorio Ornitologico di Arosio established 1713 – Death of the collector Johan de la Faille 1715 – Levinus Vincent publishes Wondertooneel der Nature the Wonder Theater of Nature 1716 – Peter the Great purchases the natural history collection of Albertus Seba 1724–1726 – François Valentijn and George Eberhard Rumpf give the first accounts of birds-of-paradise in Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën ("Old and New East India") 1729–1747 – Mark Catesby publishes his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands which included 220 plates of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, mammals and plants. 1731–1738 Eleazar Albin publishes A Natural History of Birds. 1733 – Great Northern Expedition leaves Saint Petersburg 1735 – Carl Linnaeus publishes his Systema Naturae. The classification of birds follows that of Ray 1737 – Giuseppe Ginanni writes the first book entirely devoted to the eggs and nests of birds, Dell Uova Nidi e dei degli Uccelli published in Venice 1741 – Georg Steller studies the birds of the north Pacific on his voyage with Vitus Bering 1742–1743 – Johann Heinrich Zorn publishes Petino-Theologie oder Versuch, Die Menschen durch nähere Betrachtung Der Vögel Zur Bewunderung Liebe und Verehrung ihres mächtigsten, weissest- und gütigsten Schöpffers aufzumuntern. Ornithotheology, or an encouragement to humanity, through a careful observation of birds, towards admiration, love and respect for their powerful, of the wise and good Creator. 1743 – George Edwards begins publication of his bird plates. 1754 – Jean-Louis Alléon-Dulac publishes Mélange d'histoire naturelle 1756 – Wilhelm Heinrich Kramer publishes in Elenchus Vegetabilium et Animalium per Austriam inferiorem Observatorum 1756 – Louis Daniel Arnault de Nobleville publishes Histoire naturelle des animaux 1757 – Michel Adanson publishes Histoire naturelle du Senegal. 1758 – Carl Linnaeus publishes the first volume of the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, the first application of binomial nomenclature to birds. 1759–1771 – Peter Ascanius Icones rerum naturalium 1760 – Mathurin Jacques Brisson's six-volume Ornithologie improves upon Linnaeus' classification.
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