3.4 Museum Accessioning

• It is necessary to arrange to have whole birds prepared as museum specimens for identification at the Royal BC Museum before field work is started.
• Deliver specimens to the Royal BC Museum in person to ensure that they do not thaw in transit. Thawed specimens may be unuseable.

Royal BC Museum Contact: Michael McNall, Ornithology Collections Manager

Phone (250) 387-2927 Fax (250) 387-5674

Email mmcnall@rbml01.rbcm.gov.bc.ca

3.5 Materials and Costs

• It is necessary to get an estimate of the cost to have birds prepared as museum specimens for identification before field work is started.
• The costs of preparing a bird is only partly based on the size of the bird but also on they type of bird. Some birds, owls for example, have very thin skins that tear easily. These are slower to do than some of the other birds. Others, such as sea birds, often have a lot of subcutaneous fat and are much slower to dry.
• The cost of preparing a bird will increase if the skeleton is to be prepared as a separate specimen.
• In general a preparator can do about five small birds (wrens) or three midsize birds (duck) or one large bird (heron) per day (not including skeleton preparation). The cost of a preparator for a day is $225 per 7 hour day.
• The cost of housing should also be figured into the budget. Costs of cabinets and drawers and annual maintenance fees vary as to size and number of specimens.

Table 1. Cost of materials associated with whole bird specimens.

Item	Specifications	Cost ($)
Durphy boxes	Small (skeleton & egg storage)	1.00 each
Durphy boxes	Medium (skeleton & egg storage)	1.50 each
Durphy boxes	Large (skeleton & egg storage)	2.00 each
Drawers	Small, 25 per case	65.00 each
Lane cases		958.00 each
Glassware, gaskets, lids	for storage of unprepared wet specimens only
Tubs	for storage of unprepared wet specimens only	18.75 each
Vats	for storage of unprepared wet specimens only	172.00 US each

3.6 References

American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. A.O.U. Check-list of North American birds. 7^th ed. The Union, Washington, DC. 829 pp.

Anderson, R.M. 1960. Methods of collecting and preserving vertebrate animals. 3rd ed., rev. Dept. Secretary of State, Ottawa , ON. Bull. / Nat. Mus. Can., Biological series No. 18, No. 69. 164 pp.

Beltane, A.K. 1990. Bird study skin preparation. Draft Rep. Royal B.C. Mus. Victoria, BC. 23 pp.

Campbell, R.W. N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G.W. Kaiser, M.C.E. McNall. 1990. The birds of British Columbia, vols. 1 and 2. Royal B.C. Mus., Victoria, BC.

Cannings, R.J. 1998. The birds of British Columbia: a taxonomic catalogue. Wildl. Bull. No. B-86. Min. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Br., and Resources Inventory Br., Victoria, BC. 243 pp.

Demarchi, D.A. 1995. Ecoregions of British Columbia, 1:2 million Map, 4^th ed. Min. Environ, Lands and Parks., Wildl. Br., Victoria, BC.

Demarchi, D.A. 1996. Introduction to the ecoregions of British Columbia: Draft. British Columbia. Min. Environ, Lands and Parks., Wildl. Br., Victoria, BC.

Foster, M.S., and P.F. Cannell. 1990. Bird specimens and documentation: critical data for a critical resource. Condor 92:277-283.

Pyle, P. 1987. Identification guide to North American passerines: a compendium of information on identifying, ageing, and sexing passerines in the hand. Slate Creek Press, Bolinas, CA., 278 pp.

Resources Inventory Committee. 1998. Vertebrates of British Columbia: scientific and English Names. Standards for Components of BC's Biodiversity No.2. Version 2.0. Min. Environ., Lands and Parks, Resources Inventory Br., Victoria, BC. 122 pp.