The section cares for over 187,000 specimens of birds, and a database over 206,000 records which include exchanged specimens and other specimens no longer in the collection. The most important of these are the 519 holotypes and 40 syntypes. We also care for approximately 196 extinct birds as well as specimens of many rare species collected decades if not more than a century ago. The collection on whole is ranked roughly ninth in the United States.