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The Exhibition

The following is a summary of the five key sections of the Stuffed & Mounted exhibition. Note that some exhibits may be changed for some venues.

1. A BIRD FROM THE PAST

1a. Early interest in Australian wildlife

Information:

• Aboriginal people and birds; early sightings by Dutch navigators and by Captain Cook and the crew of the Endeavour
• John Latham (1740-1837) - the 'Grandfather' of Australian ornithology
• Charles Darwin (1809-82) and the voyage of the Beagle (1836)
• John Gould (1804-81) visited Australia on a field trip in 1838-39, published The Birds of Australia (1840-69) in 7 volumes.

Exhibits:

• Aboriginal drawing of Emu
• Sketch of early Dutch ship
• Image of Black Swans
• Portrait of Captain Cook
• Images of pelican and parrots
• Image of John Latham and four birds
• Image of finch collected by Charles Darwin
• Portrait of John Gould

1b. Museum Victoria's ornithological collections

Information:

• The founding of the National Museum of Victoria in 1854
• William Blandowski, the National Museum's first zoologist (1854-58), made field trips throughout Victoria collecting specimens. Within eight months of opening, the museum's collection held 230 species of birds.
• Frederick McCoy, director of the National Museum from 1854, purchased 10,000 bird specimens (non-Australian) from John Gould in England
• John Leadbeater became famous as an expert taxidermist at the museum, working with mammals and birds (from 1858).
• The H.L. White collection, donated to the museum in 1917 (8547 skins, 13,000 eggs)
• The A.J. Campbell collection of nests and eggs, donated in 1915
• Gregory Mathews (1876-1949) gathered a collection of over 30,000 specimens (now in the American Museum of Natural History, New York), published The Birds of Australia (1910-1927) in 12 volumes

Exhibits:

• Photograph of William Blandowski
• Skins of 3 birds collected by Blandowski
• Photograph of Frederick McCoy
• Mount of Masked Owl
• 4 skins prepared by John Leadbeater
• Photographs: H.L. White, eggs and skins from the White Collection
• Book by A.J. Campbell, illustrations of eggs from the Campbell Collection
• Skins of 3 birds from the Mathews Collection

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2. A BIRD IN THE BOOK

Scientific illustrations

Information:

• John Gould (1804-81), author and illustrator, rough field sketches completed as finished drawings by his wife Elizabeth and others, books contain 2,999 hand-coloured plates.
• Neville H.P. Cayley (1853-1903), Australia's foremost bird painter in the last decades of the 19th century.
• Neville W. Cayley (1856-1950), son of N.H.P.Cayley, wrote and illustrated What Bird is That? (1931).
• Bird artists working in Australia today include William Cooper, Nicholas Day, Peter Marsack, Jeff Davies, Frank Knight, Peter Slater.
• HANZAB - the Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, to be completed in 7 volumes, summarises all that is known of the 952 bird species living in this region. Includes information on identification, habitat, distribution, movements, behaviour, diet, voice and breeding for all birds, together with distribution maps, sonagrams of calls, and black and white, and colour illustrations.

Exhibits:

• Paintings of Rainbow Lorikeet (c. 1795)
• 3 original plates for Gould's Birds of Australia
• 2 paintings of birds by Neville H. Cayley
• 3 paintings of birds by Neville W. Cayley
• 3 books (hands-on displays): Pizzey & Knight; Slater, Slater & Slater; Simpson & Day
• 4 prints of birds done for HANZAB

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3. A BIRD IN THE BUSH - Field Research Techniques

3a. Accounts of collecting trips

Information:

• Field notes of early collectors listing locations of birds, descriptions of nests and eggs, diet and behaviour
• Hardships endured by early collectors

• Sketch book of 19th C. ornithologist
• 2 skins of Rose-crowned Fruit Dove
• 2 skins of Rufous Fantail
• Photograph of collector's shot gun
• Map of Coen district, Cape York Pen.
• Photograph of collector standing on horse

3b. Identifying birds in the wild

• Museum specimens are very valuable for describing details of shape, size, plumage colour, pattern and variation. However, museum specimens cannot capture the posture, behaviour, movement, or calls of a bird.
• Behaviour and posture - maintenance behaviour including preening, bathing, sunning, dusting, comfort movements including feather settling and head scratching, sleeping, courtship displays, aggressive behaviours
• Movements
  - On the ground, small birds hop, medium to large birds walk, water birds waddle, some birds rarely land on the ground
  - On water, some birds glide, others move their heads back and forth
  - When flying, some birds have an undulating flight path (eg rosella), others have a steady flight path and constant wing beat (eg Silver Gull), large birds alternate between gliding and rapid wing beats (eg Crested Pigeon), some birds glide (eg albatross), others soar. Speed and height of flight also vary.
• Bird Calls are important identifiers. Lyrebirds mimic other birds and non-natural sounds.

• Images of New Zealand Falcon (sunning), Superb Lyrebird (courtship)
• Image of Rufous Fantail

Information:

• Birds build their nests in a variety of places, eg. in a bush, fork in a tree, tree hollow, on the ground, in a tunnel, under the roof of a house.
• The number of eggs laid varies, eg. 1 for an albatross, 2 for a pigeon, 3 or 4 for most shore birds. (The latter varies with age of adult, weather and season). Most species lay one clutch per year; incubation varies from 10 days (wren) to 82 days (albatross).
• Ornithologists record a range of data about nests and eggs. Size and weight of eggs is difficult to record as it will result in the adult bird abandoning the nest.
• Early collectors recorded details of nest situation, type and height above ground.
• Cuckoos lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. Their young are then fed by the foster-parents. (Sometimes they are fed by the natural parents).

• 6 images of birds and clutches of eggs: Thick-billed Grasswren, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Emu
• 2 images: Turquoise Parrot, Pallid Cuckoo in Fantail's nest

Information:

• Most people's gardens are visited by between 15 and 65 species of birds.
• Identification is best done by observing (firstly) the size and shape of birds, both perched and in flight. In flight, a bird's wing may be rounded at the end or pointed, narrow or broad, flat or curved. Silhouettes are useful measures of shape.
• If birds are similar in size and shape (eg honeyeaters), colours and patterns of feathers become important.
• Equipment used by birdwatchers includes field guides and handbooks, binoculars, telescope, tape recorder (for calls) and notebook (to record location, date, habitat, behaviour, movements, and sketches of birds, eggs and nests). Bird watchers also make use of hides (specially built sheds for concealing the bird watcher), and some use GPS (Global Positioning System) equipment to record location and assist navigation through the bush.
• Handy hints for successful bird watching include:
  • Plant native shrubs to encourage birds
  • Observe with the sun behind you
  • Record place, date and time of all observations
  • Go out at night to try to see/hear birds
  • Tape record bird songs
  • If you must have a cat, restrict its movement
  • Note general impression, size and shape of birds observed
  • Note details of dead birds, and donate good specimens to the museum
• Birds Australia's first Atlas of Australian Birds project ran from 1977 to 1981, and was published in 1984. It is based on 2.7 million reports on 716 birds over 812 one degree blocks. The project was started again recently, with the first phase completed in 2002.
• Birds are good indicators of environmental health because they are easy to study and identify, are very widespread, and are high on the food chain and are therefore affected by subtle habitat change.
• Over the last 20 years, 10 million hectares of bushland were cleared across Australia, killing 150 million birds.

• 2 images: Laughing Kookaburra & Rainbow Lorikeet
• Image of birdwatcher & equipment

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4. A BIRD IN THE HAND - Laboratory Research

4a. Taxonomy and understanding our world

Information:

• In the 1750s, the Swedish naturalist Linnaeus established the classification system that is now known as taxonomy.
• Birds were traditionally classified according to skeletal structure, feather patterns and behaviour, but recent analysis of DNA relationships has resulted in major revisions.
• There are approximately 800 species of Australian birds, organised into 20 orders. A list of these orders is included on this website as a separate document.

Visit the Birds Australia website for a complete list of the birds of Australia: http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/checklist/index.html

• Chart: The 20 orders of Australian birds, showing name of order, types of birds in each order and an image of a bird that is representative of the order. Details are on the accompanying page (Australian Birds), of this website.

Information:

• Laboratory research uses mounts, skins, skeletons, spirit specimens, eggs, nests and feathers to provide information on such things as:
  • Topography (different parts of the bird's exterior): head, neck, trunk, bill (long, short, hooked, flat, conical), wings, tail, legs, feet (including number and arrangement of toes)
  • Plumage (feathers): varies with age, gender, breeding/non-breeding status, parts of the body; colours can occur in bands, bars or patches, and be mottled or spotted
  • Anatomy (skeletal and muscular systems)
  • Physiology (respiratory, digestive, circulatory, nervous systems)
  • Senses (vision, smell, hearing, taste)

Exhibits:

• Illustration: parts of a bird's body
• Image: HANZAB researcher using Museum Victoria's collection for plumage research
• 2 images of bird skins from H.L. White collection

4c. Breaking new ground, DNA

Information:

• Recent DNA research has enabled scientists to more accurately identify species and subspecies. This research has lead to exciting new theories about the evolution of Australian birds.
• DNA can be obtained from the blood, tissue or feathers of living birds and from the tissue and feathers of preserved specimens (including extinct birds).
• Australia has strict laws governing the export of native birds and eggs.
• DNA testing helps combat the illegal trade in Australian bird species. A smuggler was recently convicted from evidence obtained from broken eggs, as DNA analysis allowed the eggs to be identified as those of a protected bird.

• Images of Museum Victoria scientist, DNA strand, DNA banding x-ray, birds concealed in clothing

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5. A BIRD FOR THE FUTURE

5a. Research outcomes

Information:

• Ornithological collections and laboratory research provide a vast amount of information on our birds, their habitats, breeding patterns, etc., and on what they tell us about our environment.
• The Action Plan for Australian Birds gives all birds in Australia a conservation status, lists threats and recommends conservation actions.
• Birds are easily seen and heard. An area rich in bird diversity will also have a relatively high diversity of trees, shrubs, frogs, reptiles, mammals and invertebrates, eg. insects and spiders. The presence of birds indicates the ecological health of an area.
• The use of crop fertilisers and over-clearing of land place unnatural stresses on native trees, making them more susceptible to insect attack. Birds can remove 50-70% of leaf feeding insects from farm trees - successful tree establishment depends on drawing birds back into the landscape.
• The Grey-crowned Babbler is an endangered species in Victoria. Its decline has been due to the clearing of woodlands for farming and the logging that was done in the gold rush. Now it is confined to a few populations in central and northern Victoria.
• A conservation program for the Grey-crowned Babbler involving Birds Australia, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, landowners, local environment groups and local governments commenced in 1999. This has protected, enhanced and re-vegetated suitable habitat on roadsides and private land in northern Victoria - and has resulted in the successful re-establishment of Grey-crowned Babblers.

• The Action Plan for Australian Birds, by Stephen T. Garnett and Gabriel M. Crowley, published by Environment Australia
• Image of Flame Robin eating an insect
• Images of tree die-back due to insect attack
• Grey-crowned Babbler mount and image
• Image of tree planting.

5b. Preservation of bird species

• The Black-eared Miner is one of Australia's rarest and most endangered species. It formerly occurred in the Murray-Mallee region of South Australia, Victoria and NSW, but is now very rare due to large scale clearing of its habitat.
• There is much controversy over the taxonomic status of the Black-eared Miner. It has been variously considered a subspecies of the Dusky Miner and a subspecies of the Yellow-throated Miner, with which it interbreeds, producing fertile hybrids.
• Birds Australia has been involved in research and conservation related to Black-eared Miners since 1986, and plays a key role in the Black-eared Miner Recovery Program.
• Research based on museum specimens and published accounts by early collectors is the basis for much of our understanding of this species.
• The Malleefowl was long thought to be extinct in Central Australia. Since the 1990s, the traditional owners of the Anangu-Pitjantjatjara Lands in the Great Victoria Desert of South Australia have been sharing their knowledge of this area and its wildlife with scientists. Malleefowl are being tracked, their distribution mapped, and management programs implemented. The Anangu are best placed to run the programs because they have a wealth of traditional knowledge.

Exhibits:

• Images and skins of Black-eared Miner and Yellow-throated Miner,
• Images of Malleefowl sites in the Ananga-Pitjantjatjara lands of South Australia.

5c. Your help is needed

Information

• Become a member of Birds Australia. Contact the Birds Australia National Office on 1300 730 075, or visit Birds Australia online at www.birdsaustralia.com.au
• Find out about the activities of environmental groups such as Landcare, Greening Australia, Land for Wildlife, the Trust for Nature, the Bird Observers Club and the Gould League.
• Lobby your local council to plant bird-friendly trees and shrubs.
• Play an active role in the conservation of our native birds!

Exhibits:

• 34 images of birds from HANZAB, volume 4
• An information stand containing brochures from Birds Australia

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