American Museum of Natural History Research Library
author: American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History. Hall of Birds of the World (circa 1900-1946); Mammals and Birds; Bird Hall; Birds; Birds of the World; Hall of Birds; Hall of Birds of the World; Elliot Hall; Central Bird Hall; Birds of the Continents Hall; Birds of the World Hall; Synoptic and Geographic Hall of Birds
birth: approximately 1900
death: approximately 1946
Permanent exhibition. Opened approximately 1900 and closed approximately 1946. Located on Floor 2, Section 1 from approximately 1900 to approximately 1946. The Hall of Birds of the World at the American Museum of Natural History was a systematic or synoptic hall which presented bird groups as well as instructional exhibits on the natural history and biology of birds (1, 1919, p. 53). Curators included Frank M. Chapman (AR 1926 p. 66). A hall of bird habitat dioramas, also called Hall of Birds of the World, opened in 1929, and was initially planned as a compliment to the original Hall of Birds of the World. While the halls were opened simultaneously from 1929 to approximately 1946, the diorama hall has outlived the first, systematic Hall of Birds of the World (2, 1926, p. 45).
Synoptic bird exhibits existed as early as 1871 in the Central Park Arsenal (2, 1872, p. 34, Appendix 1871; 3). The Museum's bird exhibits, initially exhibited as one collection of birds on the second, were diversified into different types of bird halls. The Hall of Birds of the World featured a 62-foot skeleton of a finback whale suspended from the ceiling and a reproduction of a giant manta ray, also suspended from the ceiling and which later moved to the Hall of Ocean Life. Visitors could view exhibits on the natural history and biology of birds, a synoptic collection of eggs (1, 1919, p. 53; 1, 1923, p. 53) and in 1928, a display of Birds in Flight, including condors, eagles, and geese, was suspended from the ceiling at the entrance to the hall (1, 1928, p. 53).
Annual Reports from 1926-1928, indicate that a new bird hall with habitat dioramas may have been considered a part of and compliment to the original Hall of Birds of the World, referring to the new hall as "twelve large built-in cases for habitat groups in the Hall of Birds of the World" (1, 1926, p. 145). The original Hall of Birds of the World last appears in the General Guides in 1945 and the diorama hall remains on view as of 2017. The Sanford Memorial Hall of the Biology of Birds, which opened in 1939, covered some similar topics to the original Hall of Birds of the World, such as the natural history and biology birds.