Bird Nests in Museum Collections: A Rich Resource for Research

Abstract

Data-rich birds’ nests in museum collections are relatively rarely used in ornithological research but can be valuable sources of scientific data. Materials, architecture, artefacts of utilisation and preserved nest fauna all combine to make museum nest collections potentially excellent behavioural archives. Over recent years, the Natural History Museum, Tring, and the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, have cooperatively developed their respective collections to deliver a combined research resource that is international in scope, increasingly taxonomically representative and rich in time-series of nest specimens for British breeding species. Here we review the role of museum nest collections in furthering avian research and explore how new research techniques may potentially provide exciting opportunities. We also consider collection development and how collections might be better tailored to the needs of avian biology researchers.