H. Elliot McClure; Author, Teacher, Bird Expert

H. Elliot McClure died Dec. 27 of complications from heart and lung diseases at Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo. He was 88.

McClure was born April 29, 1910, in Chicago, the only child of Howe A. and Clara Phillips McClure. He grew up in Illinois and graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors from the University of Illinois.

McClure earned a doctorate in wildlife management at Iowa State University in 1941. Prior to earning the advanced degree, McClure began what would be a lifelong study of birds. He tagged more than 100,000 birds from 550 species.

After World War II, during which McClure served in the Navy, he was hired by the state of California to study an outbreak of encephalitis in horses in Bakersfield. This led to a stint with the Walter Reed Institute of Research, which sent McClure to Japan to study encephalitis in birds, animals and humans.

After nine years in Japan, McClure moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and began a 20-year study of the migratory patterns of Southeast Asian birds. In 1975, he retired to Camarillo and taught classes at Moorpark and Ventura community colleges, lectured and continued tagging birds.

McClure published more than 150 scientific articles and eight books on birds and other topics. His 1984 book, “Bird Banding,” is considered a definitive work in the field. In 1994, he published his autobiography, “Stories I Like to Tell.”

McClure is survived by his wife, Nobuko McClure of Camarillo; two daughters, L. Jeannette Powles of Los Osos and Clara Ann Folk of Simi Valley; a sister, Mary T. McCLure of New York City; and three grandchildren.

A celebration of his life will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Pierce Brothers Griffin Mortuary Chapel in Camarillo.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that contributions be made in his name to the Conejo Valley Audubon Society in Thousand Oaks, Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, D.C., the Mono Lake Committee in Lee Vining, Calif., or the National Audubon Society, which has offices in Sacramento.