Collection Aves (spirit preserved) SMF

The Aves (spirit preserved) collection is part of the SeSAM collections of Senckenberg which combines all collections held at the Senckenberg Natutal History Museum of Frankfurt. This collection contains bird specimens preserved in alcohol from all over the world. The ornithological collections at Senckenberg include about 90000 bird skins, 994 mounted specimens in the exhibition, about 11500 skeletons, 4000 spirit specimens, and 5050 egg clutches. About 75% of the known bird species are represented. The geographic focus is on Central Europe, Northern Africa, and South America. Concerning the number of specimens, it is the second largest ornithological collection in Germany.

The major part of the collection is not directly accessible for the public, but is used by scientists from all over the world, especially those studying the present and past geographic distribution of avian species. The hummingbird collection is of outstanding size and taxonomic completeness. The collection of bird skeletons is among the largest and most complete in Europe.

Whereas most birds have been killed for collection purposes in earlier centuries, new entries of the collection stem almost exclusively from accidental finds of dead specimens, from bird parks and zoological gardens, as well as from exchange with other institutes.