Background:Bird nests are an important part of avian ecology.They are a powerful tool for studying not only the birds that built them,but a wide array of topics ranging from parasitology,urbanisation and climate chang...Background:Bird nests are an important part of avian ecology.They are a powerful tool for studying not only the birds that built them,but a wide array of topics ranging from parasitology,urbanisation and climate change to evolu-tion.Despite this,bird nests tend to be underrepresented in natural history collections,a problem that should be redressed through renewed focus by collecting institutions.Methods:Here we outline the history and current best practice collection and curatorial methods for the nest col-lection of the Australian National Wildlife Collection(ANWC).We also describe an experiment conducted on nests in the ANWC using ultrasonic humidification to restore the shape of nests damaged by inappropriate storage.Results:The experiment showed that damaged nests can be successfully reshaped to close to their original dimen-sions.Indeed,restored nests were significantly closer to their original shape than they were prior to restoration.Thus,even nests damaged by years of neglect may be fully incorporated into active research collections.Best practice techniques include extensive note taking and photography in the field,subsampling of nests that cannot or should not be collected,appropriate field storage,metadata management,and prompt treatment upon arrival at the collec-tion facility.Conclusions:Renewed focus on nest collections should include appropriate care and restoration of current col-lections,as well as expansion to redress past underrepresentation.This could include collaboration with researchers studying or monitoring avian nesting ecology,and nest collection after use in bird species that rebuild anew each nesting attempt.Modern expansion of museum nest collections will allow researchers and natural history collections to fully realise the scientific potential of these complex and beautiful specimens.展开更多
基金Funding for this project was provided by the CSIRO National Research Collec-tions Australia Strategic Funding and the Australian National Wildlife Collec-tion Curatorial Internship Program.
文摘Background:Bird nests are an important part of avian ecology.They are a powerful tool for studying not only the birds that built them,but a wide array of topics ranging from parasitology,urbanisation and climate change to evolu-tion.Despite this,bird nests tend to be underrepresented in natural history collections,a problem that should be redressed through renewed focus by collecting institutions.Methods:Here we outline the history and current best practice collection and curatorial methods for the nest col-lection of the Australian National Wildlife Collection(ANWC).We also describe an experiment conducted on nests in the ANWC using ultrasonic humidification to restore the shape of nests damaged by inappropriate storage.Results:The experiment showed that damaged nests can be successfully reshaped to close to their original dimen-sions.Indeed,restored nests were significantly closer to their original shape than they were prior to restoration.Thus,even nests damaged by years of neglect may be fully incorporated into active research collections.Best practice techniques include extensive note taking and photography in the field,subsampling of nests that cannot or should not be collected,appropriate field storage,metadata management,and prompt treatment upon arrival at the collec-tion facility.Conclusions:Renewed focus on nest collections should include appropriate care and restoration of current col-lections,as well as expansion to redress past underrepresentation.This could include collaboration with researchers studying or monitoring avian nesting ecology,and nest collection after use in bird species that rebuild anew each nesting attempt.Modern expansion of museum nest collections will allow researchers and natural history collections to fully realise the scientific potential of these complex and beautiful specimens.
