[Nhcoll-l] Disposing of Bird Teaching Specimens

[Catherine Early (she/her)]

Another great use of them is the Non-Eagle Feather Repository
<https://libertywildlife.org/conservation/feather-repository/>! They are
interested in feathers of most North American birds as long as the quills
are not cut.

Best,
Catherine


Catherine M. Early, PhD

*she/her/hers*

Barbara Brown Chair of Ornithology

cearly at smm.org

https://catherineearly.wixsite.com/home




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On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 1:49 PM Nickson Otieno <neotieno at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello Makayla,
> Depending on what species and how well/widely studied they are, you might
> consider donating them a lab/institute with a strong focus on studies
> related to stable isotope analysis or barcoding using ancient DNA . They
> might find those specimens very valuable especially given the increasingly
> stringent rues regarding permits for specimens collection and material
> transfer worldwide.
> Nickson Otieno
> National Museums of Kenya
>
> On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 9:07 PM Makayla Dean <MDean at cincymuseum.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> We've recently culled about 1/3 of our ornithology teaching specimens
>> because they were in exceptionally poor condition: heads smashed,
>> wings/tails/feet ripped off, exceptionally poor preparation, etc. We have
>> duplicates of the culled species in our teaching collection and none of the
>> specimens have any type of data associated with them; they were prepared
>> for outreach and teaching. We've gone through all of the institutional
>> processes and paperwork to remove these specimens from the collection, but
>> now we're stuck with what to actually do with them. To the best of our
>> knowledge, the specimens were not prepared with any harmful compounds, such
>> as arsenic, mercury, or lead. The species are not CITES or ESA listed, but
>> are all protected under the MBTA.
>>
>> We think the specimens are in too poor condition to be useful to any
>> other educational institute, so we are looking for ways to dispose of the
>> specimens. Does anyone have any advice on disposing of these specimens that
>> isn't just tossing them into a dumpster?
>>
>> Best,
>> Makayla
>>
>> *Makayla Dean | *they/them
>>
>> Manager, Zoology Collections & DNA Lab
>>
>> Cincinnati Museum Center
>>
>> 1301 Western Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45203
>> MDean at cincymuseum
>> C: (513) 549-6251
>>
>> O: (513) 287-7000 ext 7307
>>
>> cincymuseum.org
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