[Nhcoll-l] Collection of feathers

[Hawks, Catharine]

I like John's recommendation. One caveat is to make sure that any backing paper used in the envelope (Mylar is the preferred envelope), is pH neutral, 100% cotton rag paper. Avoid paper that has an alkaline reserve because direct contact with alkalis will increase the rate of oxidation of the pigments in the feathers.

Cathy
Catharine Hawks (she, her)
Conservator
Collections Program
MRC 170 Rm M85-J
National Museum of Natural History
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hawksc at si.edu<mailto:hawksc at si.edu>

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From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of John E Simmons
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2022 10:46 AM
To: Sergio Montagud <sergio.montagud at gmail.com>
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Collection of feathers

External Email - Exercise Caution
For loose feathers (those not attached to a specimen), you might consider housing them in polyethylene or Mylar sheet protectors. This is the system used by Dra. Letty Salinas Sánchez in the Departamento de Ornitología at the Museo de Historia Natural in Lima. It works well to keep the feathers from being damaged, and they can be examined without having to remove them from the sheet protectors, and an identification label included with each feather. Letty has built up a very useful collection of loose feathers that are used in forensic identification. Here is a photo of the system:
[cid:image001.png at 01D8FA80.3A8A2700]
--John

John E. Simmons
Writer and Museum Consultant
Museologica
and
Associate Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
and
Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima


On Thu, Nov 17, 2022 at 7:42 AM Sergio Montagud <sergio.montagud at gmail.com<mailto:sergio.montagud at gmail.com>> wrote:
Hi all

We want to afford a new collection of feathers, because a lot of people bring us them and some are particularly interesting for new areas and/or rare species.

Can someone recommended the best practice for this type of collection? Or perhaps some reference or article about this subject?

Thanks in advance!

Sergio
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