Vertebrate Zoology

Ornithology

Divisional Holdings

The ornithology collection in the Yale Peabody Museum’s Division of Vertebrate Zoology is among the most comprehensive in North America. Overall, the collection of skins, skeletons and wet preserves contains over 124,000 specimens of more than 6,500 species — over 70% of the birds of the world — with international significance in several areas.

The collection’s importance cannot be judged by numbers alone. The Blossom Collection of Atlantic island birds has historic value, and there are good holdings in extinct North American taxa such as the Heath Hen, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Eskimo Curlew, Carolina Parakeet and Bachman’s Warbler. Asian birds are especially well represented (from India, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand and Laos), and extensive African collections have been made from Angola, Kenya and Tanzania. The ornithology collection also has regional U.S. strength, especially for Connecticut and New Hampshire (the Dartmouth Ornithological Collection).

The Yale Peabody Museum’s collections are available to legitimate researchers for scholarly use. Loans are issued to responsible individuals at established institutions. Loans and access to the collection can be arranged through the Collections Manager.

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