Fridrich Kinský came from the Kostelec branch of an ancient aristocratic family, which had owned the estate in Kostelec nad Orlicí since the end of the 18th century. Fridrich Kinský graduated from the Technical University in Brno with a degree in agricultural sciences. His ornithological interest initially focused on the Kostelec estate and the ponds of eastern Bohemia. He put much effort into building a collection of bird eggs, which he later donated to the National Museum. Yet he was also interested in other aspects of bird life. He had a laboratory called “Faust`s Laboratory” in the Kostelec Castle, where he prepared the stomachs and craws of birds and analysed their contents. Otto Kadlec was one of those who supplied him with material for this work. Kinský was also an enthusiastic collaborator of the Czechoslovak Ornithological Society, a nature conservationist, an amateur botanist and a nature photographer and filmmaker.
However, his bird ringing activity is probably the most important for the history of ornithology. In 1939─1948 he ringed over 10 thousand birds in cooperation with the Bird Ringing Station of the National Museum in Prague, 80 of which were recorded abroad. These were truly remarkable results for the period.
Fridrich Carl Kinský and his immediate family fled Czechoslovakia after the communist takeover in 1948 and was able to get to New Zealand already the following year. His family later followed him. From the 1950s he worked in New Zealand as a museum ornithologist and head of the bird ringing station in Wellington. Gradually, he gained a reputation as a truly respected scientist, writing important studies on, for example, Kiwis (birds), Little penguins (Eudyptula minor) and Kelp gulls (Larus dominicanus). He has also done research on seabirds, as well as birds of the Pacific and the Antarctic.
He pioneered bird ringing in New Zealand and was also involved in the introduction of wing rings for penguins. He published dozens of scientific studies, many of which were reflected in the works of other scientists.
The involuntary leaving his native country of course meant the interruption of Bedřich Karel Kinský`s scientific activities. However, even abroad, he was able to return to the field of ornithology and he became a world-renowned scientist.
