I have a part-time job going through the collection of the large collection of bird skins at the Trieste Museum of Natural History, more than 10,000, many of which have not been re-examined since they were first prepared, some of them more than 150 years ago. One of the gems that came to light in the fist batch of bird examined was a Kinglet Calyptura (Calyptura cristata), an species endemic to the coastal rainforest near Rio De Janiero, a species believed to be approaching extinction and for which only 45 other specimens exist in museums around the world.
The specimen is lacking a label and had been misidentified as a Golden-headed Manakin (Pipra erythrocephala)... a species it obviously wasn't!
Quite a few specimens in the collection have incomplete labels, sometimes with no identification, or no locality given. In the days and weeks to come I'll be posting photographs of birds that I've been unable to identify rapidly and for which I'd be grateful for any suggestions that will point me in the right direction.
Here is the first bird. The label says 'Bahia 1883' ... nothing else. It's about the size of a Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos).
The specimen is lacking a label and had been misidentified as a Golden-headed Manakin (Pipra erythrocephala)... a species it obviously wasn't!
Quite a few specimens in the collection have incomplete labels, sometimes with no identification, or no locality given. In the days and weeks to come I'll be posting photographs of birds that I've been unable to identify rapidly and for which I'd be grateful for any suggestions that will point me in the right direction.
Here is the first bird. The label says 'Bahia 1883' ... nothing else. It's about the size of a Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos).