Birds



Tuesday Tweet: Hanging in there…

Posts on Exploring have been short and sweet lately. That is because like this Black-billed Cuckoo, Exploring project staff are hanging in there. We are clamoring down and racing to the finish. Another collection was added to the UMedia Archives…


Tuesday Tweet: Celebrating 99 years

On page xv in Annals of the Museum of Natural History 1872-1839, Thomas Sadler Roberts, museum director and author of the publication, printed the following entry in the Log of the Museum for the year 1915: May 6 – Thomas…


Barn swallows on a fence

– Barn swallows on a fence, Heron Lake, June 12, 1899 (From the negatives in the Bell Museum of Natural History records)…


No Picture

Tuesday Tweet: What’s your bird personality?

The Golden Gate Parks Conservancy has written a quiz, “What Bird Personality Fits Your Bill?” to help you determine what kind of bird you would be based on “distinct avian phenotypes.” I got Wrentit. What’s your bird personality?…


Eggs anyone?

In theme with an upcoming holiday, here is an array of eggs: – Red-eyed Vireo nest and eggs, July 1902, Itasca State Park – Junco nest and eggs, June 1902, Itasca State Park – Ruffed Grouse nest and eggs, May…


Tuesday Tweet: Let’s talk turkey

Back in November I shared the only then known image of turkeys from the ~6,900 glass plate and film negatives in the Bell Museum of Natural History records. A good portion of the negatives were produced by Thomas Sadler Roberts…



Tuesday Tweet: Albino Grackle

With over 6,900 black and white negatives in the Bell Museum of Natural History records, we know of at least one that is true in coloration: – Albino Grackle, circa 1940 To learn more about color abnormalities in birds, read…


Mounted Monday: What the Taxidermist Took

Hunting and fishing were important to the daily lives of Minnesota’s early residents as a source of food and income. For the most part, pioneers could hunt and fish all they wanted as very little regulation existed that addressed “taking”…


Tuesday Tweet: Falconry

In his autobiography, My Life in Natural History, former Bell Museum preparator and director Walter Breckenridge provided a description of the Peregrine Falcon and an introduction to the sport of falconry: “One of my favorite birds is the peregrine falcon….