Robert David FitzGerald (or possibly Robert Desmond FitzGerald) (30 November 1830 – 12 August 1892) was an Irish-Australian surveyor, ornithologist, botanist and poet. Whilst working as a public servant FitzGerald's private passion and ability regarding ornithology and botany became so skillful that he communicated directly with Charles Darwin regarding Australian species of plant and was referred to several times in the book The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species of 1877. He also collected orchids for the great German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller.