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

American Museum of Natural History. Local Birds.; Local Collection of Birds; Local Birds; Birds of the Vicinity
birth: 1894
death: 1936
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.
1894Local Birds opens in the west corridor of the third floor.
1913Local Birds move to the west corridor of the second floor.
1936The Collection of Local Birds moves from its own location in the west corridor of the second floor to be part of the New York State Exhibits in the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall.
1972New York State Exhibits closes and its exhibits of local birds and mammals move to the third floor to become the Hall of New York City Birds and the New York State Mammals.