The mission of the University of Alaska’s Bird Collection is to document avian diversity and its distribution and to serve as a resource for research and education. As time series of specimens have been developed and technology has increased, so has the value of preserved birds to science and society. This is the State bird collection, and it is used by many diverse researchers studying not just birds, but also diseases, food webs, and contaminants. A list of the publications these researchers have produced is available on our Google Scholar profile, here. The collection also serves as an important center of student research, training, and education. For its size, the collection has a large impact. (We documented this here, and the impact has continued to grow rapidly.) As a scientific research resource, sample sizes, the types of samples, and their distribution are important to develop and maintain across populations, geography, and time.
This collection is the best in existence of avian material from Alaska, with emphasis on the birds of northwesternmost North America, including taxa endemic to Beringia and the circumpolar North. The collection consists of over 50,000 birds. More than 85% of all bird species and subspecies known in Alaska are represented by Alaska examples. Most recent preparations include skin, partial skeleton, tissue, and stomach samples for each individual. Tissues are housed in the Genomic Resources Collection. Specimens are regularly loaned for scientific research. Specimen loan policies and a summary database are available for interested researchers.
Checklist of Alaska Birds (pdf file)
Kevin Winker, Curator of Birds
Jack Withrow, Collections Manager
Our ‘new’ range space with compactors and cabinets
SOME INTERESTING ASPECTS OF THE COLLECTION
(We’ll be continuing these items from our old site on the main page as blog entries henceforth.)
North American Uniques — taxa documented by voucher specimens from North America only in the University of Alaska Museum Bird Collection.
Recent publications and theses based in whole or in part on specimens in the collection.
The University of Alaska Museum at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska.