The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ bird collection is one of the three largest of its kind in the southeastern United States and is the only collection of significant size in North Carolina. Its 20,000 specimens represent 26 of 27 orders, 135 families, 598 genera, and 1,500 to 2,000 taxa.

The Museum possesses a notable collection of seabirds containing 2,300 skins, hundreds of skeletons, and an extensive number of fluid-preserved birds, some of which can be found only in this collection. It is one of the few museums to house a spread wing collection, which contains more than 1,000 specimens. The Museum also has a significant Philippine bird collection, several thousand egg sets, and about 1,000 voice recordings of North Carolina birds. The Museum exhibits two of the collection’s rarest specimens: the Carolina parakeet (left) and the passenger pigeon.

The collection began with Museum founders H.H. Brimley and C.S. Brimley in the early 1900s. However, most of the specimens were acquired after 1975 under the leadership of Curator of Birds David Lee. In addition, the Museum of Natural Sciences serves as the repository for deceased specimens of rare and endangered birds from several institutions, including the North Carolina, Baltimore and Philadelphia zoos and the Carolina Raptor Center. Through cooperative agreements with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, the Museum receives many valuable salvage specimens from bird rehabilitators across North Carolina.

NC Hummers - Vagrant hummingbird sightings project and report form, coordinated by John Gerwin and Susan Campbell.

Please direct loan or visitation inquires to Curator of Bird John Gerwin.

Staff Web Pages:
John Gerwin
David Lee Curator Emeritus (Retired 2003; inquiries to John Gerwin)

The Carolina Raptor Center - A non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of birds of prey through rehabilitation, research and education.

North Carolina Partners in Flight - an initiative dedicated to the conservation of neotropical migratory birds.

American Bird Conservancy - "Conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas".

Cornell Lab of Ornithology - "A membership institution interpreting and conserving the earth's biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds." Conservation & population studies, weekly multimedia features, education, and the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates.

Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center - Bird Lists, Education, Bird of the Month, Fact Sheets and Publications.

Hummingbirds.net - This excellent amateur site is a great "source for information on attracting, watching, feeding, and studying North American hummingbirds."