[Nhcoll-l] avian eggshells — labeling

Tue Mar 26 11:16:03 EDT 2019

Hi, Adriana,
We’ve learned from our own egg collections that collectors didn’t always follow any standard. Some numbers on our eggs are AOU numbers, some are Ridgway numbers or numbers from other ornithological numbering systems (Dresser, Gray, Hume, Davies, Taylor…), but some are just inventions from the collectors’ own cataloging system. One of our collectors marked specimens with designations referring to the catalog page and position on the page, e.g. “35.w” –meaning page 35, 23rd line—which only really helps if you have that catalog in hand. For more standard designations, the letters that follow numbers could be part of old species numbering systems. As late as the 5th edition of the AOU checklist, for example, species 194 (Great Blue Heron) lists subspecies 194a through 194e, while the 3rd edition lists only subspecies 194a and 194b. For some of our egg specimens we’re fortunate to have the collectors’ egg data cards, and some of those bear numbers from multiple numbering systems (e.g. AOU and Ridgway), which is what I suspect is the case for some of your specimens with two designations that look like species numbers. Please share what you find out from others—I’m always looking for more leads to understanding what these designations are trying to convey.

Cindy Opitz
Collections Manager
Museum of Natural History and Old Capitol Museum
Instructor, UI Museum Studies Certificate Program
11 Macbride Hall
The University of Iowa
Iowa City IA 52242
319-335-0481
mnh.uiowa.edu<http://www.mnh.uiowa.edu/>,  oldcap.uiowa.edu<http://www.oldcap.uiowa.edu/>
[mnh_small] [cid:image008.png at 01D4E3BC.E97FF160]

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Adriana Lopez Villalobos
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2019 9:12 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Cc: Karen Ong <13ko2 at queensu.ca>
Subject: [External] [Nhcoll-l] avian eggshells — labeling

Hello all,
I need some guidance here.
I am cataloguing an orphan collection of avian eggshells and I’m having a hard time making sense of the labeling system on some of the specimens.
The dates on the paper labels (and in some cases on the actual eggshells) range from the late 1880’s to 1991, and eggshells come from North America, the Bahamas Islands, Ireland, Iceland and Asia Minor. From what I understand the method for labeling avian eggshells has changed over the decades, but labeling often includes three different numbers: 1) a 3 digit reference number for the species (i.e. AOU code), 2) a set mark (number of nests the collector sampled from that day), and 3) the clutch size that egg came from. Some of our eggshells seem to follow this pattern (Fig. 1), however there are some that have two three-digit numbers (Figs. 2 & 3), a combination of numbers and letters (Figs. 4 & 5), and some that have numbers with decimal points and letters (Fig. 3 & 6).
Does anyone know if there is an international bird species reference list (with nomenclature updated, hopefully) that uses a 3-digit numerical coding system (i.e. the AOU or something else)?
Is it possible that some of the numbers correspond to the collector’s own catalogue numbering system?
I am not sure how to decipher the information on these eggshells so any helpful links or tips to understanding these types of avian eggshells labels would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Photos below
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Fig 1. White Pelican (6-3-91) specimen from Pyramid Lake, Nevada that appears to follow the standard method of 3-digit species reference number, set mark/clutch size (125, 4/2)

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Fig 2. Swanson’s hawk (no date), appears to have 2 separate reference numbers or maybe a collector's catalogue number.

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Fig 3. Brown Pelican (no date) egg specimen labelled as (616, 3.28, 641).

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Fig 4. Western red-tailed hawk specimen (1991) that has a 3-digit numerical code followed by a letter, ‘337b’.

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Fig 5. Seven double-crested cormorant eggs (no date) labelled as ‘a-e/3’ or ‘a-e/4’. Unsure what ‘a-e’ refers to but number indicates clutch size.

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Fig 6. Night Heron specimen (1899) collected from Plum Island, NY that appears to have a reference or catalogue number. Unsure what ‘(70. E)’ refers to.

Adriana Lopez-Villalobos, Ph.D.
Collections and Data Manager
Fowler Herbarium (QK)
Queen's University Biological Station (QUBS) URL: https://qubs.ca
280 Queen’s University Road, RR #1, Elgin, Ontario, KOG 1E0
adriana.lopez.villalobos at queensu.ca<mailto:adriana.lopez.villalobos at queensu.ca>

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