The 1986 International Ornithological Congress 
Roger Taylor and Bruce M. Di Labio 
The International Ornithological Congress is a meeting that 
is held every four years in a major city. It is the single most 
important conference for the world ornithological community. 
From June 22 to 29, 1986, the 19th Congress met in Ottawa under 
the sponsorship of the National Museum of Natural Sciences with 
Dr. Henri Ouellet of the Museum as Secretary-General. Nearly 
1400 people came to this meeting from all over the world, making 
it the largest ornithological conference ever held, a tribute to 
the organizational efforts of Henri Ouellet and the drawing 
power of our national capital. 
The single most important component of such a congress is 
the scientific program. But, given suitable quality in the 
lecture presentations, the success or failure of the conference 
is often determined by the local program, particularly the 
excursions. During the 1986 Congress, many members of The 
Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club contributed their time freely to 
the leading of a highly successful series of excursions, thereby 
contributing enormously to the success of the Congress. 
The local committee consisted of Roger Taylor (chairman), 
Frank Bell, Bruce Di Labio, Jaroslav Pieman, Iola Price, Vic 
Solman, Jean Vaillancourt and Steve Wendt, all of Ottawa, plus 
David Bird, Bob Lemon and Roger Titman of Montreal. Very sadly, 
Frank Bell was taken ill many months before the Congress took 
place. He was unable to participate in any of the events and 
died soon after. Before his illness, Frank worked with great 
enthusiasm for the committee and did all of the early organiza¬ 
tional work for the bird excursions. As his illness progressed, 
Bruce Di Labio took over his duties and saw them through to 
completion. 
On each of five mornings, three bus loads of enthusiastic 
ornithologists each with three leaders headed out at 5:00 a.m. 
from the Capital Congress Centre, each to a different location 
to see what exotic species could be found in Gatineau Park, 
Shirleys Bay (Figures I and 2), behind the airport, or along 
Anderson road. On some mornings, it poured rain; the weather 
conditions were far from ideal, but nothing would stop these 
people from seeing their birds. Imagine the thrill for people 
seeing their first Hairy Woodpecker, Rose-breasted Grosbeak or 
Scarlet Tanager. These thrills were shared by the leaders 
themselves, who derived a great deal of personal pleasure from 
showing, for example, an eminent ornithologist from Holland his 
first Black-throated Green Warbler. Even for those who knew the 
birds, it was still refreshing to see them in the habitats that 
exist here in Ottawa. The enthusiasm for these excursions 
