Explore Bird Hall to discover the many shapes, sizes, colors, and characteristics of birds. Bird Hall features more than 300 taxidermy mounts and study skins of birds that range from tiny hummingbirds to massive Golden eagles. Compare the variations of owls or examine the elaborate feathery plume of a superb Lyrebird up close.
Bird Hall has an array of birds collected over two centuries that illustrate many topics: Endangered and Extinct Species, Flightless, Tropical Rainforests, Birds of Paradise, Sexual Dimorphism, Avian Reproduction, Aquatic Birds, Adaptations for Feeding, and Defining Species. The lower hallway mostly displays non-passerines (non-perching birds) found in Pennsylvania: ducks, raptors, herons, doves, shorebirds, gallinaceous birds (ground-feeding game birds), and more.
Meet our Ornithologists
Learn about the Bird Collection at the Museum
The bird collection at the museum, the Section of Birds, contains nearly 190,000 specimens of birds.
Some ornithologists are Bird Banders. What is that?
Blogs about Birds
Do No Harm: Dealing with Spotted Lanternflies
by Jonathan Rice Spotted lanternflies are a “true bug,” cousins of the cicada and stink bug. Unlike our native bug species, these …Hummingbird Lessons
by Patrick McShea Banding hummingbirds is a routine procedure at Powdermill Avian Research Center (PARC). Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are common summer residents throughout …Tracking Migratory Flight in the Northeast
by Patrick McShea Explanations of networks benefit from maps or other graphic representations of linked participants. In the case of a recent …Ruffed Grouse or Scarlet Tanager: Debating the Pennsylvania State Bird
by Pat McShea Should a wildlife species representing a state reflect the creature’s abundance within the designated boundaries? Where state birds are …
