Past events
Since its inception in the late 19th century, the Union, and its parent organization, the International Ornithological Committee, has held 26 International Ornithological Congresses in 19 countries on all livable continents, from Austria in 1884 to Japan in 2014.
- Click here to download a list of plenary speakers at past IOCongresses.
- Click here for a history of past IOCongresses
Location and Dates of IOCongresses 1884-2014 with Presidents and Secretaries-General/Congress Conveners
| # | Year | Location | President | Secretary-General | Documents |
| 1st | 1884 | Vienna, Austria | Dr. G.F.R. Radde | Dr. Gustav von Hayek | Congress Report |
| 2nd | 1891 | Budapest, Hungary | Prof. Victor Fatio, Otto Herman | none | |
| 3rd | 1900 | Paris, France | Dr. Émile Oustalet | Jean de Claybrooke | |
| 4th | 1905 | London, UK | R. Bowdler Sharpe | Dr. E.J.O. Hartert, J. Lewis Bonhote | |
| 5th | 1910 | Berlin, Germany | Prof. Dr. Anton Reichenow | Herman Schalow | |
| 6th | 1926 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Dr. E. J. O. Hartert | E. Lehn Schioler | |
| 7th | 1930 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Prof. A.J.E. Lönnberg | Prof. L.F. de Beaufort | |
| 8th | 1934 | Oxford, UK | Prof. Erwin Stresemann | Rev. F.C.R. Jourdain | |
| 9th | 1938 | Rouen, France | Prof. Alessandro Ghigi | Jean Delacour | |
| 10th | 1950 | Uppsala, Sweden | Dr. Alexander Wetmore | Prof. Sven Hörstadius | |
| 11th | 1954 | Basel, Switzerland | Sir Landsborough Thomson | Prof. Adolf Portmann | |
| 12th | 1958 | Helsinki, Finland | Prof. J. Berlioz | Dr. Lars von Haartman | |
| 13th | 1962 | Ithaca, NY, USA | Dr. Ernst Mayr | Dr. Charles G. Sibley | |
| 14th | 1966 | Oxford, UK | Dr. David Lack | Prof. Nikolaas Tinbergen | Congress Report |
| 15th | 1970 | Den Haag, The Netherlands | 1966-1969: Prof. Nikolaas Tinbergen | Prof. Karel H. Voous | |
| 1969-1970: Prof. Finn Salomonsen | |||||
| 16th | 1974 | Canberra, Australia | Prof. Jean Dorst | Dr. H. J. Frith | |
| 17th | 1978 | Berlin, Germany | Prof. D.S. Farner | Rolf Nöhring | |
| 18th | 1982 | Moscow, Russia | Prof. Lars von Haartman | Prof. V. Ilyichev | |
| 19th | 1986 | Ottawa, Canada | Prof. Dr. Klaus Immelmann | Dr. Henri Ouellet | |
| 20th | 1990 | Christchurch, New Zealand | Dr. Charles G. Sibley | Dr. Benjamin D. Bell | |
| 21st | 1994 | Vienna, Austria | Dr. Christopher Perrins | Dr. John Dittami | Congress Report |
| 22nd | 1998 | Durban, South Africa | Prof. Dr. Peter Berthold | Dr. Aldo Berruti | View Proceedings |
| 23rd | 2002 | Beijing, China | Prof. Walter Bock | Dr. Wei-shu Xu | View Proceedings View Proceedings (Link 2) |
| 24th | 2006 | Hamburg, Germany | Prof. Dr. Jacques Blondel | Prof. Dr. Franz Bairlein | View Proceedings |
| 25th | 2010 | Campos de Jordão, Brazil | Prof. Dr. John C. Wingfield | Prof. Dr. Cristina Miyaki, Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Höfling | View Proceedings View Article (In Swedish) |
| 26th | 2014 | Tokyo, Japan | Prof. Dr. Franz Bairlein | Prof. Dr. Keisuke Ueda | View Proceedings |
| 27th | 2018 | Vancouver, Canada | Prof. Dr. Lucia Severinghaus | Prof. Dr. Robert W. Elner |