Constantine Walter Benson

Constantine Walter Benson OBE (2 February 1909 – 21 September 1982) was a British ornithologist and author of over 350 publications. He is considered the last of a line of British Colonial officials that made significant contributions to ornithology. Education and career Constantine Walter Benson was born in 1909 near Taunton in Somerset, and educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge. He was to become head of the Cambridge Bird Club. He became an officer in the Colonial Service in 1932 and was posted to Nyasaland, modern Malawi, where he spent over 20 years as a District Commissioner. He was elected a member of the British Ornithologists' Union in 1932. On arrival in Malawi, he began the systematic study of Malawian birds, training and making use of his servant and collector Jali Makawa. He met his wife Florence Mary Lanham (Molly), while visiting the Transvaal Museum where she worked as a botanist and they co-authored several publications. It has been reported that Benson tasted every specimen he collected; he claimed that turacos tasted the best, while owls tasted the worst. He was a recognised expert on East African birds, and made a number of scientific discoveries including: Lufira masked weaver White-tailed swallow or Benson's swallow Roberts's warbler Aldabra brush warbler Karthala scops owl In 1952 he was transferred from Nyasaland to the then Northern Rhodesia, (now Zambia) Game and Fisheries Department. There he remained until his retirement. In 1962 he was seconded to the Rhodes Livingstone Museum as assistant director. In 1958, whilst at the Game and Fisheries Department, he led the centenary expedition of the British Ornithological Union to the Comoro Islands.