[Nhcoll-l] [EXTERNAL] Re: Keeping bills shut

[Ritchie, Fran E]

I agree with Nate, especially about reaching out to the paleo prep lab. If they use Butvar B98, that’s also a good one (it’s in ethanol usually), but it doesn’t have as much tack as B72 (this can be good or bad, depending on the situation). Both are available in the States from Talasonline.com, as well as animal-based glues that are reversible in water (as Simon mentioned). They have fish glue already made.

You could also reach out to the conservators at nearby Harvard Peabody. Judy Jungels is a good contact there.

Best,
Fran

Fran Ritchie, Conservator (Objects)
she/her
Harpers Ferry Center
Fran_Ritchie at nps.gov<mailto:Fran_Ritchie at nps.gov>

American Institute for Conservation Professional Associate (peer-reviewed)

NPS Conserve O Grams - Museums & Collections (U.S. National Park Service)<https://www.nps.gov/subjects/museums/conserve-o-grams.htm>

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Shoobs, Nate
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2025 10:02 AM
To: Black, Nina <npblack at fas.harvard.edu>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [Nhcoll-l] Keeping bills shut




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Nina,
I don’t work with vertebrates, so others may have differing opinions about wherher or not one *should​* use adhesives for this task, but I am a big fan of Paraloid b-72 as a general purpose museum adhesive. You can vary the tensile strength of it by the concentration, and it is easily reversible using acetone/ethanol. We use it to repair broken mollusk shells in our collection.

You may want to swing by your institutuon’s paleo prep lab, I’m sure they have some you could experiment with!
-Nate


-
Nathaniel F. Shoobs, Curator of Mollusks
College of Arts & Sciences Dept. of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University
Museum of Biological Diversity
1315 Kinnear Rd, Columbus, OH 43212
614-688-1342 (Office)
mbd.osu.edu<http://mbd.osu.edu/>
________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> on behalf of Black, Nina <npblack at fas.harvard.edu<mailto:npblack at fas.harvard.edu>>
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2025 9:57:04 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu> <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Keeping bills shut

Hi All, Does anyone have advice for an archival glue that can be used to keep bills closed when preparing bird skins, or perhaps can suggest a good method for this? We always tie them shut with string through the nostrils, but for some birds
Hi All,

Does anyone have advice for an archival glue that can be used to keep bills closed when preparing bird skins, or perhaps can suggest a good method for this? We always tie them shut with string through the nostrils, but for some birds that have long bills or oddly shaped ones it is hard to keep it closed. Some colleagues have used regular super glue, but I am not so keen on this idea

Thanks,
Nina

Nina Black
Curatorial Assistant
Ornithology & Mammalogy
Museum of Comparative Zoology
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