For the second time in his career world-renowned bird artist Tony Pridham has been awarded the Whitley Medal for Natural History for his book Cyril’s Paradise Parrots.

The medal recognises outstanding publications about the wildlife of the Australasian region with the awards being presented annually by the Royal Zoological Society of NSW.

Tony will attend a presentation at Sydney’s Museum of Art where he will also receive his second award for ‘Best in Australia for Natural History’ this Sunday 26 October.

Tony released his book on the Cyril’s Paradise Parrots in early 2024, an endeavour he took on by himself self-publishing the work.

The Whitley Awards are not usually awarded to those who self-publish with the medal often taken out by bigger publishing companies.

"All of a sudden here is someone who has self-published and self-funded their book which sold out very quickly,” he said.

“We had approached many publishing companies but were turned down so the decision to go self-publishing was worthwhile.

“There are almost 40 pieces of original art, and we researched the man himself - Cyril Jerrard - through his journals, along with visits to the Queensland Museum, the National Library, the Brisbane Library, the State Library and we also went to the Jerrard’s old farm site in south-east Queensland.

"So we did a lot of background, and then, when we couldn’t get a publisher with all the work that had gone into it, we did it ourselves,” Tony explained.

“And now it has been judged ‘Best in Australia for Natural History'.

"I am absolutely stoked, and the accolade was totally unexpected,” he said.

It is Tony’s love of birds, his keen interest in history and a lifetime love of art that led him to compiling, illustrating and releasing this book.

Tony took four years to research, paint and compile the history of what was believed to be an extinct parrot until a small colony of the birds was discovered in a remote part of Queensland owned by Cyril Jerrard.

The book tells the story of Jerrard and the extinct Paradise Parrot through his essays and diary notes.

Tony’s first published book “For the Love of Birds” also won an award.

‘A Love of Birds’ showcased 35 years of Tony’s work, from the quickest of sketches through to his magnificently detailed point paintings.

This book followed Tony’s travels in pursuit of birds, from parrots in Australia to hummingbirds in Ecuador.

Tony’s talent was first noticed at age 19 when he won Best Painting at the prestigious Wildlife Art Society of Australia awards.

But Tony’s illustrations have also graced the pages of other publications such as Grassfinches in Australia (in conjunction with Joseph M Forshaw and Mark Shephard 2012) and Glimpses of Paradise (2008).

Grassfinches in Australia comprised over 2300 pages and a mixture of text and beautiful artwork by Tony.

This book also received the Whitley Awards for Excellence in Zoological Illustration.