Peter Davis

Ornithologist

THE ORNITHOLOGIST Peter Davis, who has died at 91, was a Yorkshireman who became instrumental in saving Britain’s remaining population of the red kite, a mission considered one of the country’s greatest conservation successes.

Born in Idle, Bradford, his mother was a shop assistant and his father a wool salesman. Mr

Davis went to Woodhouse Grove

School at Apperley

Bridge and then, following national service with the RAF, to Leeds University.

Graduating in 1951 with a degree in geography, he took a job as warden of the Lundy bird observatory, off the north Devon coast. Similar positions followed on Skokholm Island in Pembrokeshire and at Fair Isle on Shetland.

It was back in Wales that he developed his signature project. The red kite, a graceful bird of prey with an unmistakable reddishbrown body, angled wings and deeply forked tail, was once a detested scavenger, surviving on carrion and rubbish, and on the verge of national extinction.

It was Mr Davis who as founder of the Welsh Kite Trust, helped lead its reintroduction. There are now 1,600 breeding pairs in the UK – up from only 23 when he took an interest – and the species is not only listed under the Wildlife and Countryside Act but has also been named Wales’ favourite bird.

The author of or contributor to more than 150 scientific papers and several books, he was made an MBE in 2007 for his services in the field. He is survived by his wife Angela, their children and grandchildren.