Bird Group
The Bird Group, in the Department of Zoology, is located in Hertfordshire at the Natural History Museum at Tring. The bird collections were moved out from London in the early 1970s and are housed in part of the original Walter Rothschild complex and in a purpose-built four-storey building.
Ornithology at the Natural History Museum
The ornithological collections are amongst the largest in the world and the most comprehensive. There are approaching 750,000 bird skins representing 95% of known species still in existence, with type specimens for over 8,000 taxa. The collection includes many extinct and endangered species and a wealth of historic material including specimens collected by Darwin, Audubon and others. There are in the order of 250,000 egg sets, some 17,000 specimens preserved in spirit, over 14,000 skeletons and 2,000 nests.
The museum also houses one of the finest ornithological libraries in the world with over 80,000 volumes, and including unpublished manuscripts, field notebooks and paintings.
Use of the collections
Collection material is consulted by researchers throughout the world, who either visit Tring or request loans from us. It is used in studies of comparative anatomy, osteology, zoogeography, ecology, conservation, art, archaeology, taxonomy, evolution and a variety of other subjects. For example, much of our knowledge of bird distributions in Africa comes from NHM specimens and the morphological sections of handbooks such as The Birds of the Western Palaearctic and The Birds of Africa are heavily based on material from the collections. Recently, the plates and texts of the Handbook of Birds of the World have drawn extensively on specimens in our collections. The assistance of the Bird Group is acknowledged in numerous scientific papers each year.
Additionally, research is also carried out in-house by the Bird Group's PhD students and curators, spanning a diverse range of interests.
Access to the collections
Access to the Ornithology Collection/Library is by prior appointment only. From 1 April 2011 access is conditional on you providing original photographic proof of identification and proof of address or letter of support on headed paper from your university. Failure to bring these documents will result in access being denied.
Contacts
All Bird Group staff and the librarian can be reached at the following postal address:
Bird Group
Department of Zoology
Natural History Museum at Tring
Akeman Street
Tring
Herts
HP23 6AP
UK
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7942 6158
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7942 6150
General enquiries
Should be addressed to: Dr Robert Prys-Jones - Email
Enquiries concerning particular collections
Should be addressed to the appropriate curator:
Skins and loans: Mr Mark Adams - Email
Skins and preparation: Mr Hein van Grouw - Email
Skeletons and spirit: Dr Joanne Cooper - Email
Eggs and nests: Mr Douglas Russell - Email
Library enquiries
You can address your enquiries to the Ornithology Library enquiries by email.
Bird ring recoveries
The British Trust for Ornithology coordinates the ringing and reporting of wild birds in Britain and Ireland. Important research on the survival and movements of these birds relies heavily on reports received from members of the public, so if you have found a ringed bird, report it to Euring bird ringing co-ordinators
The Ringing Unit
BTO
The Nunnery
Thetford
Norfolk IP24 2PU
UK
Telephone: 01842 750050
Fax: 01842 750030
Email: recoveries@bto.org
