1852 in birding and ornithology

Ongoing events
 * Death of Charles Thorold Wood
 * Death of William Thompson
 * Death of Louis François Auguste Souleyet
 * Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach, describes the eastern moa in Avium systema naturale
 * Paul Gervais describes the Eocene bird genus Ludiortyx
 * Sulawesi pygmy woodpecker described by Alfred Malherbe
 * Death of Grigori Ivanovitch Langsdorff
 * August Carl Eduard Baldamus, Christian Ludwig Brehm, Johann Wilhelm von Müller and Johann Friedrich Naumann  publish Verzeichnis der Vögel Europa's. als Tausch-Catalog eingerichtet in Stuttgart. In this year also Müller began work on the illustrated book Beiträge zur Ornithologie Afrikas (1853–1870),
 * John Gould The birds of Australia; Supplement 1851–69. 1 vol. 81 plates; Artists: J. Gould and H. C. Richter; Lithographer: H. C. Richter
 * John Gould The birds of Asia; 1850-83 7 vols. 530 plates, Artists: J. Gould, H. C. Richter, W. Hart and J. Wolf; Lithographers:H. C. Richter and W. Hart