Past International Ornithological Congresses (IOCongresses®)

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 Canada in 2018.

  • 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

IOCongress report [pdf, 135 Kb]

24th 2006 Hamburg, Germany Prof. Dr. Jacques Blondel Prof. Dr. Franz Bairlein

View Proceedings I: Pleanry papers

View Proceedings II: Symposia papers

Abstract Book [pdf, 2.7 Mb]

IOCongress report [pdf, 1.1 Mb]

25th 2010 Campos de Jordão, Brazil Prof. Dr. John C. Wingfield Prof. Dr. Cristina Miyaki, Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Höfling

View Article (In Swedish)

Abstract book [pdf, 5.9 Mb]

26th 2014 Tokyo, Japan Prof. Dr. Franz Bairlein Prof. Dr. Keisuke Ueda

View Proceedings

Abstract book [pdf, 10.0 Mb]

27th 2018 Vancouver, Canada Prof. Dr. Lucia Severinghaus Prof. Dr. Robert W. Elner

Congress abstracts [pdf, 3.3 Mb]

View proceedings

28th 2022 Virtual (originally conceived for Durban, South Africa)  Prof. Dr. Dominique G. Homberger  Prof. Dr. Colleen Downs   
29th 2026 TBA  Prof. Dr. Fumin Lei TBA