Take a look inside the cabinet of extinct and rare birds

By Molly Adams, Safina Center Launchpad Fellow

In the mid 1800’s, the great auk, a large, flightless seabird, was hunted to extinction. Like many other species, these birds can now only be seen as specimens in ornithological collections around the world. In late February, a group of Feminist Bird Club members were able to catch an incredible rare glimpse of some of these extinct birds during a special tour of the world’s largest collection of study skins at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).

Great auk at AMNH. Photo: Molly Adams

We were invited by Paul Sweet, AMNH’s ornithology collections manager, on a tour highlighting controversial, rare, and extinct specimens as part of a two-part monthly event for the Feminist Bird Club. First, the group joined Martha Harbison for a group-guided bird walk through some of Central Park’s prime habitat for winter migrants and residents. The group saw a total of around 29 living species, including several tufted titmouse, northern shovelers, and couple of cooper’s hawks.

Paul Sweet and the Feminist Bird Club at the AMNH. Photo: Molly Adams

After the morning’s walk, we met Paul outside the Hayden planetarium entrance. We walked up several flights of museum stairs, then to a private set of stairs, and then all crammed inside his personal office for an introduction before heading into the temperature controlled collection cabinet rooms. One of our first stops was the ‘Extinct and Rare Birds’ cabinet which had trays of ivory-billed woodpeckers, passenger pigeons, Carolina parakeets and the great auk. Everyone had their phones out, trying their best to get photos of the skins of birds that can no longer be seen alive.

Paul went on to reveal trays of vibrant pitas, toucanets, and shocking comparisons of the world’s largest owl compared to the world’s smallest owl, but one particular specimen grabbed ahold of my attention. The Bougainville moustached kingfisher, photographed for the first time in 2015 and previously thought to be extinct, was one of the birds sitting on a tray of mixed species in Paul’s office.

This individual was collected as a holotype, a specimen upon which the description and name of a new species is based, which is typical of most known species in the world. A holotype is only collected when it will not damage the species population as a whole, and serves as an important tool that contributes to the preservation of its species. Despite the important contribution to science, there were many extreme, emotional reactions to the collection of this individual bird, some translating to death threats to the scientists involved.

Photo: Molly Adams

When animal species are going extinct at a rate never before observed in the history of the world, it is important for me to think about ways to help morph extreme compassion for animal welfare into a desire to contribute to local and global conservation efforts. The scientific knowledge that arises from well-maintained ornithological collections is an important piece of the conservation mechanism that prevents holotypes like the moustached kingfisher from being moved from the ‘Rare’ cabinet to one labeled ‘Extinct.’

Photo: Molly Adams