The collection of North American birds housed in the National Museum of Natural History is one of outstanding quality. It totals about 370,000 specimens, including approximately 222,000 skins, 31,000 skeletons, 13,000 fluid-preserved, and about 26,500 egg sets and nests. Of the 3,949 specimens in the type collection, 2,120 specimens are holotypes of North American taxa. A major portion of the collection was formed through the activities of the Bureau of Biological Survey which actively collected over much of North America from the 1890's to 1930's and from other early boundary surveys and expeditions seeking railroad and telegraph routes to the west during the 1850's and 1860's. Most areas of North America, particularly the eastern, western, and southwestern Unites States, are well represented. The collections continue to grow with recent emphasis on multiple preparations. Early collections consisted primarily of skins, whereas current preparation techniques may include skeleton, anatomical parts, and tissue samples as well. At this time data are available in electronic form for over 355,000 USNM bird specimens (ca 59% of the total collection).
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Paraphyly of Cinclodes fuscus (Aves: Passeriformes: Furnariidae): Implications for taxonomy and biogeography
Forty-ninth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American birds
Tarphonomus, a new genus of ovenbird (Aves: Passeriformes: Furnariidae) from South America
Forty-eighth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds
The collection of North American birds housed in the National Museum of Natural History is one of outstanding quality. It totals about 370,000 specimens, including approximately 222,000 skins, 31,000 skeletons, 13,000 fluid-preserved, and about 26,500 egg sets and nests. Of the 3,949 specimens in the type collection, 2,120 specimens are holotypes of North American taxa. A major portion of the collection was formed through the activities of the Bureau of Biological Survey which actively collected over much of North America from the 1890's to 1930's and from other early boundary surveys and expeditions seeking railroad and telegraph routes to the west during the 1850's and 1860's. Most areas of North America, particularly the eastern, western, and southwestern Unites States, are well represented. The collections continue to grow with recent emphasis on multiple preparations. Early collections consisted primarily of skins, whereas current preparation techniques may include skeleton, anatomical parts, and tissue samples as well. At this time data are available in electronic form for over 355,000 USNM bird specimens (ca 59% of the total collection).
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.