MVZ Bird Collection (Arctos)

Carla Cicero

doi:10.15468/r1woj3

MVZ Bird Collection (Arctos)

Citation

Cicero C (2025). MVZ Bird Collection (Arctos). Version 43.93. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/r1woj3 accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-05-15.

Description

The MVZ bird collection is one of the largest in the United States. It houses over 185,000 catalogued specimens, including 174 holotype and 2 syntypes. The majority of specimens are study skins, but the collection also contains over 21,000 skeletal specimens and 3,200 fluid-preserved specimens. Other types of preparations include flat specimens (wings, skins) and body skins with skeletons ("schmoos"). Tissues, anatomical parts (e.g., syrinx, stomach contents), and parasites are routinely preserved with specimens. Many specimens also are associated with cataloged audio recordings.

Additional info

http://vertnet.org/resources/norms.html

Taxonomic Coverages

The collection is taxonomically synoptic, with representatives of every Recent order of birds. For most orders there is at least 70% representation at the generic level.

Aves
rank: class

Geographic Coverages

The MVZ bird collections are global. Geographic strengths are western North America from Alaska and British Columbia through southern Mexico. In addition, there are major series of specimens from Central America (especially Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica), South America (in particular, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, and Argentina), the Hawaiian Islands, the South Pacific, Australia, and Africa.

Bibliographic Citations

Contacts

Carla Cicero
originator
position: Staff Curator of Birds
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley
3101 Valley Life Science Building
Berkeley
94720-3160
CA
US
Telephone: (510) 642-7868
email: ccicero@berkeley.edu
homepage: http://mvz.berkeley.edu

Carla Cicero
metadata author
position: Staff Curator of Birds
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley
3101 Valley Life Science Building
Berkeley
94720-3160
CA
US
Telephone: (510) 642-7868
email: ccicero@berkeley.edu
homepage: http://mvz.berkeley.edu

David Bloom
programmer
position: VertNet Coordinator
email: dbloom@vertnet.org

Dusty McDonald
point of contact
position: Arctos Database Programmer
University of Alaska Museum
email: dlmcdonald@alaska.edu
homepage: http://arctos.database.museum

Rauri Bowie
point of contact
position: Faculty Curator of Birds
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley
3101 Valley Life Sciences Building
Berkeley
94720-3160
CA
US
Telephone: (510) 643 1617
email: bowie@berkeley.edu
homepage: http://mvz.berkeley.edu

Carla Cicero
administrative point of contact
position: Staff Curator of Birds
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley
3101 Valley Life Science Building
Berkeley
94720-3160
CA
US
Telephone: (510) 642-7868
email: ccicero@berkeley.edu
homepage: http://mvz.berkeley.edu