Ornithology Collections: Specimen Donation and Tracking

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Collection Manager: Susan Hochgraf

Office: BioPhysics 127

Office Phone: 486-8945

Email: susan.hochgraf@uconn.edu

Preparators: Alejandro Rico Guevara, Jorge deLeon, Margaret Rubega



What To Do If You Find a Dead Bird, and Want to Donate It to the UConn Research Collection

Our collection of bird skins, tissues and bones is currently growing largely through salvage: we accept birds found dead by members of the public. These specimens add to the "library of birdlife" we maintain. Your donations make it possible for future researchers to investigate the bird populations of Connecticut.

If you find a dead bird, the very first thing to do is to determine if it is fresh enough to make a useful specimen. A bird that hasn't been dead for long will be round, not flattened or sagging; the eyes will be full and still moist; the feathers will not fall out when you handle the bird; the body will not smell. In contrast, a specimen that has already begun to decay will be collapsed, and may be oozing fluids; the eyes will be sunken and dry-looking; the feathers will be loosely attached and fall out easily when tugged, or when you handle the bird; there may be insects (ants, maggots) on or in the specimen; and the body will smell bad.

Specimens showing advanced signs of decay are best left where they are. Specimens in good condition should be sealed in a plastic bag (a ziploc with the air squeezed out of it is ideal) with a note containing the following information: your name and contact information; the location (at least town) where the bird was found; the date; and any information you may have about the bird (e.g., how it died - "Hit a window"). If you have the means to measure the bird's weight at the time you picked it up, that information is also very helpful. Once the bird is sealed in a plastic bag, PUT IT IN THE FREEZER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Freezing the body arrests the process of decay, and maximizes the likelihood we can prepare the specimen in a way that will preserve it.

The collection manager works part time (one day per week); she is in the collection on Thursdays. Accordingly, Thursdays are the best days to bring a specimen you wish to donate to the collection. You can call the manager at 860-486-8945 to ensure that someone will be present to take the specimen from you at the time you are due to arrive. If you cannot bring your donation by on a Thursday, contact someone in the Rubega lab at 486-3839 or 486-0309 to arrange a meeting to drop the specimen off.


Inventory of Donated Specimens

(as specimens are prepared, they will move off this list and onto the collection database )

Date Donated Common name Species Prep Priority Score Condition / Comments Data Status
19-May-09 Pine Siskin Carduelis pinus 1 good yes
24-Jan-09 Atlantic Brant Branta bernicla 1 good yes Frozen
21-Jan-09 Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator 1 good yes Frozen
31-Aug-08 Cooper's Hawk Accipiter cooperi 1 good yes Frozen
27-Aug-08 Black-throated Blue Warbler Dendroica caerulescens 1 good yes Frozen
16-Jun-08 Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens 1 good yes Frozen
24-May-08 Barred Owl Strix varia 1 good yes Frozen
17-May-08 Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus 1 good yes Frozen
1-May-08 Black-and-white Warbler Mniotilta varia 1 good yes Frozen
24-Mar-08 Cooper's Hawk Accipiter cooperi 1 good yes Frozen
22-Mar-08 Eastern Screech-Owl (Red) Otus asio 2 good yes Frozen
5-Mar-08 American Kestrel Falco sparverius 1 good yes In Rubega lab
24-Jan-08 Cooper's Hawk Accipiter cooperi 1 good yes Frozen
1-Jan-08 Eastern Screech-Owl (Grey) Otus asio 2 good yes Frozen
22-Dec-07 Canada Goose Branta canadensis 1 good loc. Frozen
22-Dec-07 Barred Owl Strix varia 1 good yes Frozen
16-Nov-07 Hawk Accipiter 2 good yes Frozen
29-Sep-07 Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata 1 good yes Frozen
23-Sep-07 Sharp Shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus 2 good yes In Rubega lab
30-Aug-07 Monk Parakeet Myiopsitta monachus 1 good yes In Rubega lab
June_2007 Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea 1 good yes Frozen
12-Dec-06 Eastern Screech-Owl Otus asio 2 good yes Frozen
9-Oct-06 Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata 1 good yes Frozen
31-May-06 Kentucky Warbler Oporornis formosus 1 good yes Frozen
14-Oct-05 Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus 1 good yes Frozen
29-Oct-04 Barred Owl Strix varia 1 good yes Frozen
2-Aug-04 Red-Bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus 1 good loc. Frozen
20-Feb-04 American Tree Sparrow Spizella arborea 1 good yes Frozen
15-Feb-04 Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis 2 good yes Drying
7-Jun-02 European Starling Sturnus vulgaris 3 xgood yes Frozen
29-May-02 Northern Waterthrush Seiurus noveboracensis 1 good loc. Frozen
10-May-02 Ruffed Grouse Bonasa umbellus 3 xgood loc. Frozen
20-Apr-02 Wren (carolina?) Thryothorus ludovicianus 1 good loc. Frozen
17-Mar-02 Ruffed Grouse Bonasa umbellus 3 good loc. Frozen
25-Jul-01 Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias 2 xgood loc. Frozen
3-Jul-00 Warbler undet. Passeri 3 fair loc. Frozen
13-Jun-00 Eastern Screech Owl Megascops asio 3 good loc. Frozen
26-Dec-99 Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus 2 good loc. Frozen
2-Jun-94 Redpoll Carduelis sp. 3 good loc. Frozen
31-Dec-93 Sharp Shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus 2 good loc. In Rubega lab
- Owl (Grt. Horned?) Bubo virginianus 2 fair - Frozen
- Peep? undet. Charadiiformes 3 fair/poor - Frozen
- Green Winged Teal Anas carolinensis 1 good - Frozen
- Ring-necked Dove Streptopelia capicola 1 good - Frozen
- Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor 1 good - Frozen
- Wren (carolina?) Thryothorus ludovicianus 1 good - Frozen
- Yellow Billed Sandpiper Yellow Billed Sandpiper 1 good - Frozen
- Northern Parula Parula americana 1 good - Frozen
- Warbler Oporornis sp. 1 good - Frozen
- Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica 1 good - In Rubega lab
- Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus 2 good - Frozen
- Sharp Shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus 2 good - Frozen
- Hawk undet. Buteo 3 good - Frozen
- Black-throated Blue Warbler Dendroica cerulenscens 2 good - Frozen
- Coopers Hawk Accipiter cooperii 3 good - Frozen
- Gull sp. undet. Laridae 3 good - Frozen
- Cedar Waxwing (x7) Bombycilla cedrorum (x7) 3 good/excellent - Drying (x3) Frozen (x4)
- Sharp Shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus 2 xgood - Frozen

Useful and Amusing Links

Feather Identification Resource Online! The Feather Atlas of North American Birds provided high-resolution scans of flight feathers of the major groups of birds; useful for comparison with found feathers whose origin you aren't sure of.

Images of Bird Wings Online. The Slater Museum, at the University of Puget Sound, provides high-resolution images of their entire collection of spread (open) bird wings. Useful for studying flight style as a function of wing morphology.