Birds
- Composite image of Passenger Pigeon, Kori Bustard feather, Great-horned Owl skull, rail drawing, Sword-billed Hummingbird, and Common Murre eggs.
Christina Gebhard © Smithsonian Institution
National Bird Collection
The Division of Birds, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, houses and maintains the third largest bird collection in the world with over 640,000 specimens. Our National Collection, known in the ornithological literature by the acronym USNM (referring to our old name of United States National Museum), has representatives of about 80% of the approximately 9,600 known species in the world's avifauna.
This collection supports scientific research by resident staff and associates, as well as numerous visting scientists. Specimens are made available to researchers worldwide through collections visits, loans, and through our online database.
In addition to the Smithsonian staff, zoologists from the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey are permanently stationed in the division and work closely with colleagues and specimens at the Museum. These specialists focus primarily on North American birds.
News and Featured Highlights
ALERT: CONTACT INFORMATION CHANGE
The Smithsonian contact information has changed with the retirement of James Dean. For visitors, general information, and all genetic resources requests, etc please use the email contactsmithbirds[at]si.edu. For Destructive sampling and loan requests, please visit these pages for more information.
Note: USGS contact information for North Amerian inquires has not changed.
Bird Division Hall of Fame
Who were the Smithsonian historical 'movers and shakers' in Ornithology? In 2011, Museum Specialist, Christina Gebhard, created a physical gallery in the Division of Birds to honor these individuals, and now it's available online.
How do you identify a bird from a feather?
Zoologist Carla Dove explains in this Ask Smithsonian video how the microscopic structure of a bird's feather can help identify the species and at the same time, make air travel safer for humans.
Phylogeny of the Hawaiian Honeycreepers resolved.
The Hawaiian Honeycreepers are one of the most strikingly diverse and endangered bird families in the world. Learn how Smithsonian researchers were able to solve the riddle of their ancestry and reveal the pattern and timing of their evolutionary diversification. Read more...
Meet Our Scientist: Helen James
Meet Smithsonian Scientist Dr. Helen James, whose job it is to dive into dormant Hawaiian volcanoes to find bird fossils.
Meet Our Scientist: Carla Dove
Meet Smithsonian Scientist Dr. Carla Dove, whose job it is to identify the remains of bird airstrikes for military and commercial aviation.