The Section cares for nearly 195,000 specimens of birds. The most important of these are the 555 holotypes and syntypes. We also care for approximately 180 extinct birds, as well as specimens of many rare species collected decades if not more than a century ago. The collection as a whole is ranked roughly 9th in the United States. These collections are currently being used by the Curator and various scientific researchers who visit the collection or borrow specimens on loan.

The birds in the collection have a number of preparation types or styles. The majority are standard study skins with roughly 154,000 of this type of specimen with representatives of 5700 different species. The second largest component is the skeleton collection with approximately 16,000 specimens, of which 5,500 of these have an accompanying spread wing. Rounding out the collection are the fluid-preserved specimens (6,700), eggs (10,000 sets), Taxidermy mounts (1,300) and nests (1,000).

The greatest geographical strengths of the collection are in New World birds. CMNH holds major collections from nearly every part of North America and one of the largest in the world from the Eastern Arctic. Most areas of Central and South America are well represented with collections of major importance from Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, the Isle of Pines, Colombia, Venezuela, French Guiana, Amazonian Brazil, Bolivia, and northern Argentina. Our most important Old World collections are from Yugoslavia, New Zealand, the Philippine Islands and the equatorial African countries of Cameroon, Angola, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.

Research is facilitated by library holdings on ornithology in excess of 3,700 books and monographs, 500 pamphlets and booklets, numerous journal titles, and 3,000 reprints.

STAFF:

CURATOR
Bradley C. Livezey

CURATOR EMERITUS
Kenneth C. Parkes

COLLECTION MANAGER
Stephen P. Rogers

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