WFVZ Bird Collections

Occurrence Specimen
Latest version published by Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology on Oct 10, 2018 Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology
Publication date:
10 October 2018
License:
CC0 1.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 267,236 records in English (25 MB) - Update frequency: unknown
Metadata as an EML file download in English (8 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (8 KB)

Description

Eggs:</br> The WFVZ houses approximately 225,000 sets of eggs (equal to more than 1,000,000 individual eggs), representing at least 4,000 bird species from around the world, and collected from more than 400 individual and institutional collections. The egg collection of the WFVZ is the largest in the world.</br></br> The Western Foundation’s collections have contributed to multiple scientific fields (e.g., conservation, ecology, taxonomy, and toxicology). For example, the WFVZ provided photocopies of egg records for more than 500 species, and egg measurements for more than 400 species, covered by the Birds of North America series. This information and digital pictures of these eggs and nests are now available at www.birds.cornell.edu/birdsofna. The Foundation’s egg sets have also figured prominently in studies of eggshell thinning due to contaminants (e.g., DDT and heavy metals). Since 2000 alone, the WFVZ has contributed data to more than 200 publications. Thus, the value of the WFVZ’s collections for science, and for the conservation of bird species, continues to be evidenced.</br></br> Staff of the WFVZ provide data on eggs, including measurements and digital images, to researchers. Please contact René Corado, Collections Manager, for more information, and see our list of services available to researchers.</br></br> Nests:</br> The Foundation has more than 18,000 specimens from around the world, representing the largest collection of nests in North America and the world.</br></br> WFVZ pictures of the nests of North American breeding bird species are available at www.birds.cornell.edu/birdsofna, or researchers can contact us for particular digital images.</br></br> Skins:</br> The WFVZ houses more than 56,000 study skin specimens representing over 100 countries, with the largest numbers of specimens from the United States (>12,900), Mexico (>12,600), Malaysia (>4,400), Costa Rica (>4,000), and Ecuador (>3,800). The skin collection is at least the 16th largest among North American collections.</br></br> The primary sources for specimens currently are wildlife rehabilitation organizations; wildlife research agencies; birds killed by cats, window strikes, and car impacts; and the Foundation’s own field research projects. Materials are consistently acquired by the Western Foundation and used by researchers, educators, scientific artists, and other museums. In addition, materials are used in educational tours and presentations for the general public, both at the Foundation and at outside events.</br></br> Skin loans are made to qualified researchers.

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 267,236 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology (WFVZ)

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology. To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0). Users may copy, modify, distribute and use the work, including for commercial purposes, without restriction.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 8be43f9b-52e7-47d4-be3e-dbcc066d70ab.  Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF-US.

Keywords

Specimen; Occurrence

Contacts

René Corado
  • Originator
  • Collections Manager
Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology
  • 439 Calle San Pablo
93012 Camarillo
CA
US
  • +01 805 388 9944
Linnea Hall
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Point Of Contact
  • Executive Director
Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology
  • 439 Calle San Pablo
93012 Camarillo
CA
US
  • +01 805 388 9944
Laura Russell
  • Programmer
  • VertNet Programmer
VertNet
David Bloom
  • Programmer
  • VertNet Coordinator
VertNet
John Wieczorek
  • Programmer
  • Information Architect
University of California at Berkeley

Additional Metadata

Specimen loan information is available at http://www.wfvz.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=87. List of services available to researchers: http://www.wfvz.org/cms/images/pdf/services_provided_to_researchers_by_the_wfvz.pdf http://vertnet.org/resources/norms.html

Alternative Identifiers 8be43f9b-52e7-47d4-be3e-dbcc066d70ab
http://ipt.vertnet.org:8080/ipt/resource?r=wfvz_birds