[Nhcoll-l] Keeping bills shut

Fri Nov 21 23:39:35 EST 2025

Hello all,

I use small rubber bands, the kind used by kids with braces. If the bill is pointy, we secure them with a pin in the same manner Symcha mentioned. After the skin is dry, we remove the rubber band (and pin).

I don't remember who suggested this, I didn't come up with it myself. But it works well and no adhesives or destroyed nares.

Becky

Sent from Outlook for Android<https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg>

Rebecca Browning Desjardins
Collections Management Senior Specialist
Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi / Outsource

E RDesjardins at nhmad.ae

________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Oscar Johnson <henicorhina at gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 22, 2025 1:20:08 am
To: npblack at fas.harvard.edu <npblack at fas.harvard.edu>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Keeping bills shut

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<mailto:ojohnson at utep.edu> | henicorhina at gmail.com<mailto:henicorhina at gmail.com>

On Thu, Nov 20, 2025 at 9:22 PM Mariana Di Giacomo <maru.digi at gmail.com<mailto: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<mailto: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<mailto: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
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NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
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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.
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