 In 1959, he achieved the first captive breeding of the taipan.Possibly his best known successes at Fleays were with owls and other birds of prey.His was the first known captive breeding of the powerful owl (1968), sooty owl (1969), grey goshawk (1971), mainland masked owl (1971), grass owl (1972), crested hawk (1975) and the wedge-tailed eagle (1977).