Selections from the CUMV Ornithological Collection

Investigator: Vanya Rohwer, Cornell Museum of Vertebrates

Collaborator: Irby Lovette, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Grants Program for Digital Collections, 2022

From hummingbirds to albatrosses, the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates (CUMV) houses over 60,000 specimens of birds from around the world. However, this resource remains difficult to access, as people must visit the collection in person to see the museum’s holdings. This project will digitize a subset of the ornithological collection — nests, eggs, extended wings, skeletons, and study-skin specimens — at the CUMV. The specimens chosen for digitization will highlight the diversity of avian specimen types housed at the CUMV and illustrate how different specimens facilitate research, inspire new ideas, and aid community needs.