Howard Saunders (16 September 1835 – 20 October 1907) was a British businessman, who later in life became a noted ornithologist, specialising in gulls and terns.

He entered business as a merchant banker, which allowed him to travel widely.

Among other duties, he wrote about the gull specimens from the Challenger expedition of 1872–1876.

He was also an active member of the Zoological, Linnean and Royal Geographical Societies.

[8] The third edition was published twenty years after the death of Saunders and was revised and enlarged by William Eagle Clarke.