The MVZ bird collection is one of the largest in the United States. It houses over 185,000 catalogued specimens, including 174 holotype and 2 syntypes. The majority of specimens are study skins, but the collection also contains over 21,000 skeletal specimens and 3,200 fluid-preserved specimens. Other types of preparations include flat specimens (wings, skins) and body skins with skeletons ("schmoos"). Tissues, anatomical parts (e.g., syrinx, stomach contents), and parasites are routinely preserved with specimens. Many specimens also are associated with cataloged audio recordings.

GBIF url: https://www.gbif.org/dataset/e3b959d6-fcbe-4a28-a166-e4a807c340a0
Homepage: http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Bird_Collection.html
Citation: Cicero C (2026). MVZ Bird Collection (Arctos). Version 43.103. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/r1woj3 accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-08-07.