[Nhcoll-l] Keeping bills shut

[Oscar Johnson]

I've been using store-bought superglue for close to a decade now, and have
not noticed any significant negative effects on even the oldest specimens.
My main complaint with sewing the bills shut is that putting a needle
through the nares destroys the interior structure of the nares themselves,
which has value for morphological studies (for example in the
Rhinocryptidae). For that reason, I use string tying only on species with
perforate nares. I fully acknowledge the downsides of superglues, though,
especially if there are issues with longer-term damage to the
ramphotheca (although most of the ramphotheca is unaffected when gluing).
However, as I mentioned at the start of this message, I have not noticed
any such damage in my specimens. I will note, too, that very little glue is
needed, no more than a small drop near the tip of the maxilla, sufficient
to hold the tip of the mandible in place for a few seconds while the glue
sets. If anyone does know of a better adhesive-based solution, though, I
would love to hear about it.

Oscar
--
Oscar Johnson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Ornithology, Department of Biological Sciences
Florida Gulf Coast University
ojohnson at fgcu.edu <ojohnson at utep.edu> | henicorhina at gmail.com





On Thu, Nov 20, 2025 at 9:22 PM Mariana Di Giacomo <maru.digi at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Nina and everyone,
>
> I would recommend not using any glues or adhesives for this task, as no
> adhesive is 100% reversible at the microscopic level. These are research
> specimens and their potential could be diminished by this addition. As an
> example, proteomic studies get severely impacted by the presence of
> adhesives, no matter how much you dissolve them because they are still
> present at the molecular level.
>
> I would try some of the great non-adhesive tips shared here, so you
> prepare the specimens for the analytical techniques of the future.
> Best of luck,
> Mariana
>
> *Mariana Di Giacomo, PhD*
> *Natural History Conservator, Yale Peabody Museum*
> Member at Large; Associate Editor (Collection Forum), SPNHC
>
>
>
>
> El jue, 20 nov 2025 a las 21:03, Symcha Gillette (<sgillette at alaska.edu>)
> escribió:
>
>> In addition to tying them shut with thread, I usually use a pin to secure
>> the bill and prevent the lower mandible from sliding backward. See attached
>> photos. Unlike an adhesive, it's not guaranteed to always keep the bill
>> tightly closed once the thread and pin are removed, but it generally does
>> the job.
>>
>> -Symcha Gillette
>> Research Affiliate, University of Alaska Museum
>>
>> On Thu, Nov 20, 2025, 5:57 AM Black, Nina <npblack at fas.harvard.edu>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> 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
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Nhcoll-l mailing list
>>> Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
>>> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
>>> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
>>> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
>>> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
>>> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
>>> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nhcoll-l mailing list
>> Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
>> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
>> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
>> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
>> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
>> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
>> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Nhcoll-l mailing list
> Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l
>
> _______________________________________________
> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20251121/c67ca991/attachment.html>