American Museum of Natural History. Local Birds.

Exist Dates

1894 - 1936

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract

Permanent exhibition. Opened 1894 and closed 1936. Located in Section WC, Floor 3 from approximately 1904-1911 and Section WC, Floor 2 approximately 1913-1936. Local Birds exhibited New York City area birds.

The Museum’s 1894 Annual Report mentions a “local collection of New York Birds,” which consisted of 300 labeled specimens along with a collection of nests and eggs of New York area birds (1, 1894, p. 13).

In the 1900s and 1910s, the Local Birds collection featured a Seasonal Collection, showcasing migratory birds, which rotated monthly, along with non-migratory “permanent residents” and “accidental visitors”. The hall also had a General Collection arranged according to the American system of classification with specimens ranging from grebes to thrush (2, 1904, p. 26, 2, 1911, p. 64; 2, 1918, p. 42-43). Other exhibits at this time included types of bird feet, bills, wings, and feathers, exhibits about eggs and nests, and a bust of John C. Burroughs by C.S. Pietro (2, 1918, p. 40-41). The hall also featured a series of groups of local breeding birds. The groups themselves were the forerunners of the Museum’s famous habitat groups and were the first of their kind made for the Museum. The General Guides from 1911 states the corridor featured a Bird Feeding Group and a collection of Audubonia—objects related to the life and work of John James Audubon—donated by his granddaughters (2, 1911, p. 64).

The hall moved from the third floor West Corridor to the second floor West Corridor (West Landing/“Burroughs Room”) by 1913 (1, 1913, p. 36; 2, 1918, p. 46-47). In 1936, the collection moved to the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall on the first floor of the New York State Roosevelt Memorial to become part of the New York State Exhibits. The small table-groups in Local Birds were moved to the “Hall of Flying Birds.” It is unclear to which hall the Hall of Flying Birds refers (1, 1936, p. 14).

In 1972, the birds and mammals of the New York State Exhibits moved to the third floor to form the Hall of New York City Birds and the Hall of New York State Mammals.

This is a condensed summary of the exhibition. For additional information, see Sources and/or Related Resources.

Sources

(1) American Museum of Natural History. Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1894-1936.

(2) General Guide to the Exhibition Halls of the American Museum of Natural History. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1911-1918.

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

American Museum of Natural History. Department of Ornithology.
Related department

American Museum of Natural History. Hall of New York City Birds
Hall created after New York State Exhibits closed and was formed from exhibits from the original Local Birds

American Museum of Natural History. New York State Exhibits
Exhibits from Local Birds became part of New York State Exhibits in 1936  (1, 1936 p. 14).

Pietro, Cataino di Sciarrino 1886-1918
Artist, bust of John Burroughs exhibited in hall (2, 1918, p. 40-41).

Related Resources

American Museum of Natural History Annual Reports
1894 (page 13), 1912 (page 34), 1927 (page 11), 1934 (page 9), 1936 (pages 14, 58)

American Museum of Natural History General Guides 
1911 (page 55, 64); 1913 (page 46); 1914 (page 49); 1916 (page 51); 1918 (page 40); 1919 (page 42); 1920 (pages 42-43); 1921 (page 42); 1922 (page 42); 1923 (page 42); 1926 (page 37); 1927 (page 38); 1928 (page 45); 1930 (page 45); 1931 (page 70); 1932 (page 70); 1933 (page 73); 1934 (page 73); 1935 (page 73); 1936 (page 73);

Birds' nests and eggs : with an annotated list of the birds known to breed within fifty miles of New York City : a guide leaflet to the collection in the American Museum of Natural History / by Frank M. Chapman
Date of resource: [1904]; Guide leaflet no. 14; QH1 .G8 no.14 1904

General guide to the exhibition halls of the American Museum of Natural History, 1904.
1904 (page 26)

subjectOf

Historic Halls of the American Museum of Natural History
Curated digital images of permanent halls in the American Museum of Natural History Library, Digital Special Collections.

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