The Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU) may elect somebody to the position of Fellow, the highest grade of membership, for service to the RAOU and to ornithology. Fellows of the RAOU are entitled to use the letters FRAOU after their name. There is a limit to the number of Fellows that may exist at any time and new Fellows are generally only elected when an existing one dies. In the following list those elected to the similar positions of Corresponding Members or Corresponding Fellows (CM) are included, although this does not appear to have occurred since the 1930s. Some past and present Fellows, following the years of their election, are: