International congresses in science were rare until the late nineteenth century. One of the first ones was the 1st International Ornithological Congress in 1884, which was motivated by a borderless problem in avian biology: avian migration. This is one of the most remarkable aspects of avian biology, as many bird species travel north and south every year, but little was understood about it at that time. In Europe, where many countries were involved, studying avian migration demanded an international effort. Rudolf Blasius and Gustav von Hayek devised a grand plan for a multi-nation program on avian migration in Europe, secured the support of Crown-Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary, and arranged the 1st International Congress of Ornithology in
Vienna, April 1884, which concentrated mainly on migration studies. They established a complicated system to collect and publish migration data from Europe, but it collapsed in the 1890s due to too much information that was not analyzed. The 2nd Congress in
Budapest in 1891 focused mainly on avian migration, but also included other areas of avian biology such as a major summary of avian classification by Richard Bowdler Sharpe. The 3rd Congress in Paris covered the whole range of ornithological research, and this was followed in London, 1905 and
Berlin, 1910 where the next congress, planned for Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, in 1915 became a sign of the upcoming First World War. Ernst Hartert was largely responsible for reviving the congresses in Copenhagen, in 1926, where future meetings were set at every four years. The Règlement des Congrès Ornithologiques Internationaux, adopted in 1932, was only published at the Rouen Congress in 1938. It formalized the establishment and operation of the International Ornithological Committee. World events again prevented the staging of the 1942 Congress scheduled for the USA, and the next congress to be held was the 10th in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1950. Plenary lectures by world specialists giving summaries of advances in the various fields of ornithology at the time have been a highlight of congresses: Heinroth on the ethology of ducks and Lucanus on avian physiology at the 5th Congress; Lambrecht on avian physiology and Dunker on avian genetics at the 7th; Nice on the life history of the Song Sparrow at the 8th; Mayr on avian speciation, Dorst on avian migration, Tinbergen on behavior and Lack on ecology at the 10th; Sibley and Ahlquist with The Tapestry – the first molecular phylogeny of the Aves – at the 19th; Schodde and Christidis on the Gondwanan origin of the Australasian avifauna and global implications at the 20th; Walter Bock's Presidential debate between Martin and Sereno on the origin of birds from reptilian ancestors at the 23rd; and Bairlein on migration, illustrating the huge advances since Dorst, at the 26th. Presidential addresses, moreover, sometimes reviewed important historical aspects in ornithology, such as the contribution of amateurs in biology, the role of museum development, and, as at the 23rd Congress, the history of the international ornithological congresses themselves. The first congress outside Europe was held in
Ithaca, New York, in 1962, and the first for the southern hemisphere was held in
Canberra, Australia, in 1974. Congresses in their current format began in Berlin, 1978, where Donald Farner set up the first International Scientific Program Committee, and formulated new organizational Statutes and bylaws to replace the Règlement. A pattern of plenary lectures, symposia, contributed papers, and round table discussions was established there too. By 1986, it became clear that the tasks of secretaries-general appointed to arrange congresses had become too extensive, and that more organizational continuity was needed for managing the International Ornithological Committee. That led to the creation of the position of permanent secretary at the
Ottawa Congress in Canada in 1986; Walter Bock was the foundation appointee, holding the position until 1998, when
Dr. Dominique Homberger took over at the Durban Congress in
South Africa. ==International Ornithological Congress==