I am not an expert on the 1918 Migratory Bird Act et. sequelae, but I understand that institutions that have "salvage" permits from the US Fish & Wildlife Service can accept window-kill and road-kill specimens. I am not trying to interpret the law here either, but people can contact museums, agencies, etc to get info on how to proceed. Unlike years past, few collecting permits are issued to procure specimens anymore-- true too for education. Nature education relies in many cases on these accidental deaths. I think the few of the millions of window killed birds each year that are made into educational specimens are not wasted and serve a greater purpose. In addition to the UM Bell Museum, the DNR Nongame Wildlife program, and at least some of the metro area nature centers might accept specimens in good condition for educational purposes, but call first of course. There freezers might be already full-- there is a lot of mortality out there. However, many of the birds used for taxidermy mounts and study skins at museums and nature centers and DNR are from citizens who turn them in. Major institutions like the Field Museum in Chicago get specimens for taxonomic research from throughout the region.
To get a bird to a proper institution, it is very important that a bird be first put in the freezer as soon as possible and that it be properly done so that a good specimen is actually usable. The bird should be put in a plastic ziplock or other impermeable bag and the air should be forced out of the bag before sealing. I know that many otherwise beautiful specimens suffer freezer burn during extended storage in agencies or museums because they were not double bagged or bagged in sealed plastic and air got to the bird before it was prepared. Other birds spoil because they were not frozen soon enough. I am guessing that most specimens received are not properly treated which is too bad. After the time and effort, many specimens are thrown away-- unless the tissues are used for DNA research. The tower, guy-wire, window, and automobile mortality of birds in this country is enormous. A small number of these creatures can be used for education or research, but only if handled in the right way. -----Original Message----- From: mou-net-bounces at moumn.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of merc0069 at umn.edu Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 2:24 PM To: Ben Parke Cc: mou-net at moumn.org Subject: Re: [mou] what to do with a dead bird Ben, The U of M will take them through the Bell Museum of Natural History. Document the date and location found, and put it in your freezer until you can get it to them. Tammy On Oct 11 2007, Ben Parke wrote: > I have a white-throated sparrow that became a casuality of my bird > feeder. Not sure what happened to it as I've never had a bird fly into my > dirty windows before and it does not appear to have been mauled by a > predator. What do you all usually do with "casualties"? > > Thanks, > Ben - chaska > > >--------------------------------- >Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story. > Play Sims Stories at Yahoo! Games.
