Elizabeth Lack

Elizabeth Lack (June 1916 – 31 July, 2015) was a British ornithologist and researcher, best known for her contributions to the massive reference book A Dictionary of Birds.

Biography Born Elizabeth Silva in June 1916 in Hertfordshire, England, her father was starch manufacturer, Jack Silva of Kent. She grew passionate about birds and nature while she was still a young girl. She also had parallel interests in violin and piano and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, but the start of World War II brought a premature end to her attendance there. As a young woman in wartime, she served with numerous other Allied female recruits in the Auxiliary Territorial Service in England and France, maintaining and driving ambulances in Europe.

Post-war life With the end of the war, she applied for employment at the Edward Gray Institute of Field Ornithology at the University of Oxford. When her resume reached Richard Fitter, he passed it on the institute's new director, the prominent ornithologist David Lack, who was seeking a secretary. When Lack received Elizabeth's resume, Fitter had attached a note: "Here's another for your reject file", but Lack interviewed and hired Elizabeth Silva for the position, effective January 1, 1946, and then, noting her passion for birds, invited her to become a part-time field assistant, helping him perform observations in Wytham Woods, located northwest of Oxford. According to the museum, the tower's colony of swifts has been part of research studies since May 1948 and is "one of the longest continuous studies of a single bird species in the world, and has contributed much to our knowledge of the swift." for which she was awarded an honorary life membership in that organization.

Later years In Oxford, the Lacks lived in a flat in Park Town, and later on Boars Hill, just south of the city. Elizabeth Lack died there on 31 July 2015 at age 99.

Selected publications Lack, Elizabeth (1950). "Breeding season and clutch‐size of the Wood Warbler". Ibis. 92.1: 95-98. Lack, Elizabeth (1951). "The breeding biology of the swift Apus apus". Ibis. 93.4: 501-546. Lack, Elizabeth (1951). "Migration of insects and birds through a Pyrenean pass". The Journal of Animal Ecology.: 63-67. Lack, Elizabeth (1951). "Further changes in bird-life caused by afforestation". The Journal of Animal Ecology.: 173-179. Lack, David & Lack, Elizabeth (1952). "The breeding behaviour of the swift". British Birds. 45: 186-215. Lack, David & Lack, Elizabeth (1954). "The home life of the Swift". Scientific American. 191.1: 60-65. Lack, David & Lack, Elizabeth (1958). "The nesting of the Long-tailed Tit". Bird Study. 5.1: 1-19. Campbell, Bruce & Lack, Elizabeth eds. (2011). A Dictionary of Birds. Vol. 108. A&C Black.