Bird egg and nest collections

A tray of tree pipit eggs — A tray of tree pipit (*Anthus trivialis*) eggs from the Tomkinson Collection, held in the Museum's bird egg collection

The Museum holds one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of blown birds’ eggs in the world as well as over 4,000 nests.

Clutches of eggs

Over 200,000

Strengths

In total we hold over 200,000 data-rich clutches of eggs, totalling over 1 million individual eggs, making this one of the largest research collections available worldwide.

Eggshells are the second largest collection represented in ornithology after bird skins and this is one of the most important archives of avian samples worldwide. The museum is thought to hold around 30% of all the eggs preserved by European Museums.

The preservation of eggshell for study and display has been part of natural history collecting for at least 350 years. It was particularly common during the 1800s, when naturalists collected eggs from all over the world.

The collection can also be used to shed new light on historical expeditions and explorations, and the study of human culture and history.

The collection of wild birds' eggs is now only permitted with a licence and the historical specimens already collected are vital for understanding the lives of birds. The legacy of this historical collecting is a reservoir of data on which much of our knowledge of birds is based and biological samples that modern ornithology can constantly revisit and explore in ever greater detail.

History meets cutting-edge technology

One of six extinct Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) eggs in the museum collection. This 17th century specimen is the famous egg thought to have once been owned by the great 18th century Italian scientist Lazzaro Spallanzani. It is approaching 250 years old and is possibly one of the oldest eggs in the Museum.

It was amongst the eggs being researched recently using one of the most cutting-edge technologies available to researchers: high resolution X-ray micro-computed tomography now gives us the ability to research objects in unprecedented 3-dimensional detail.

We have specimens for approaching 52% of known species, including many extinct and endangered birds such as the Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis). Some specimens are amongst the only known examples for study, for example the extinct Laysan Rail (Zapornia palmeri).

The only known egg of the extinct Laysan Rail (Zapornia palmeri). The Laysan population became extinct between 1923 and 1936 as a result of habitat destruction caused by introduced rabbits and guinea pigs.
A clutch of Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) eggs collected by Dr Edward S. Steward at Adventdalen, Spitsbergen on 18 June 1931.
Four clutches of British Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis) eggs collected by ornithologist Gerald Tomkinson in the early 1900s. Tree Pipits have evolved remarkably high variation in egg colour and pattern as a defence to brood parasitism by Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). The pipits learn what their own eggs look like and are more likely to reject any egg that looks different.

Historic collections

The collection is actually an accumulation of thousands of individual collections which have gradually been brought together since the establishment of the British Museum over 260 years ago.

We hold eggs collected by many significant figures in ornithology, including Allan Octavian Hume (1829-1912), Osbert Salvin (1835-1898) and Frederick DuCane Godman (1834-1919).

As the national collection we have eggs collected on many of the major nineteenth and twentieth century voyages of discovery, including:

HMS Rattlesnake
The Transit of Venus Expedition of 1874–75
Challenger Expedition of 1872–76
British Antarctic Expedition (Terra Nova Expedition) of 1910-13

One of the three Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) eggs collected by Dr Edward Adrian Wilson, Apsley Cherry-Garrard and Henry Bowers in July 1911 on the Winter Journey to Cape Crozier on the British Antarctic 'Terra Nova' Expedition of 1910-13.
Early specimens of Pigeon Guillemot (Cepphus columba) eggs collected in June 1858 on the Rosario Strait by the Scottish naturalist Dr David Lyall (1817–1895), surgeon and naturalist to HMS Plumper and later to HMS Hecate. In that year he transferred to the Land Boundary Commission, participating in its survey of the boundary line between British Columbia and the United States.
A selection of nests from the 4,000 in the Museum’s collections.
One of the oldest surviving nests from Australia. A nest of Eastern Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris) collected by naturalist and explorer John Gilbert (1812-1845) on Browns River, Eastern Tasmania on 6 December 1838. John Gould Collection.

Donations

We are always happy to discuss potential donation of egg and nest collections and the options available. If you have a historical collection of eggs and want to discuss passing it to the Museum to be used in in our research, education and conservation work then please contact the curator.

The importance of associated data

A clutch of three Osprey (Pandion haliaetus carolinensis) eggs and associated label showing the eggs were collected by ornithologist Philip B. Philipp of the New Jersey Audubon Society on 8 May 1926 at Manasquan, New Jersey.

Because it is impossible to tie a label to an egg, the data accompanying eggs indicating the species that laid them as well as where and when they were laid was traditionally written directly on the egg or written on data-cards or manuscripts that cross-referred to the eggs. This information is important to modern science as it allows us to study the eggs in the context of the population that laid them.

Before the 1950s, over 500 osprey nests were found along the New Jersey coastline. By the mid-1970s, only about 50 nests remained. Loss of nesting sites and food contamination by pesticides (eg DDT) caused the birds’ decline in New Jersey and eastern United States and their recovery continues.