Leave it to the museum lover to take any chance she gets to be in a museum! The minute I heard that a class on Avian Specimen Preparation was being offered, I knew I had to enroll. In this course, I learned how to prepare birds for the ornithological collections of natural history museums. The two main preparation types I learned were: spread wings — exactly what they sound like, a fully displayed wing for studying plumage — and rounds — these present the bird’s full body and highlight the overall feather composition. Both preparation types are essential for studying variation in feather patterning across sexes, populations, and time.

 

Spread wings quickly became my favorite to prepare. I see the movement of a bird's wing as a living piece of art, that through preparation I'm able to capture and persevere. Both of these preparation types, spread wings and rounds, capture the immense beauty of the natural world, paired with the quiet contribution of the preparator’s perspective.

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While I learned plenty of technical skills through this course, like the location of the uropygial gland and why it must be removed, the most impactful lesson for me was realizing the importance of individual perspective and artistic choice within specimen preparation and the biological sciences as a whole. When completing a round, preparators make countless decisions that influence the overall look of the final specimen, while ensuring that it still presents all of the information necessary for ornithological research.

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And how do we physically capture that blend of science and art? Pinning! Each spread wing displays a bird's feathers as though it has been caught mid-flight, maintaining the natural overlap and alignment of each feather. But within those constraints, there is room for personal style. For example, I preferred that my spread wings did not have any exposed bone so I would intentionally trim the shoulder joint and associated tissue while also pinning the surrounding skin in a way that ensured all bone was covered. The presence of exposed bone has no impact on a biologist's ability to study seasonality or molt patterns, instead this decision of mine was purely artistic reflecting my unique aesthetic preference.