Passerines
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of approximately 4,000 specimens of passerines and many thousands of eggs. These date from about 1840 to 2009.
This collection forms the largest grouping in the bird collection. It contains approximately 3,000 skins, 650 mounted specimens, 60 skeletons and about 30 parts (such as heads, wings and feet) and pellets. In addition, there are around 220 nests. Specimens in the collection represent extinct species, first records for Scotland, figured and cited specimens. The specimens relate to most parts of the world, with about a third of them from Scotland. There are also good numbers of specimens from Malawi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, India, Borneo, Chile, Costa Rica, Suriname and Iowa in the USA. Birds represented range from very small species, such as the goldcrest (Regulus regulus) up to the raven (Corvus corax). Highlights include the huia (Heteralocha acuitirostris) – an extinct species from New Zealand – and eggs of the St Kilda wren.
About passerines
The order Passeriformes is a group of 60 families of birds commonly known as perching birds or song birds. It is a very large group, with approximately 5,400 species worldwide. - Broader term
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