Australian shoveller (Spatula rhynchotis) c.1875

Silvester Diggles and his family arrived in Brisbane in 1854 and he soon became a key figure in the early cultural life of the city. He taught art and music, became our first photographer, helped found musical societies and the Queensland Philosophical Society (which subsequently developed into the Queensland Museum), and was also an ornithologist of note.

Beginning in October 1863, Diggles single-handedly drew, coloured and described over 600 birds in eight years. He eventually published prints of 225 birds with descriptions of their habitat and life cycle in 21 sections from 1865 to 1870. When bound together, these became his major publication Ornithology of Australia.