Mounted specimens of most rare bird species of Russian fauna: on the left - Picus squamatus, on upper right - Numenius tenuirostris, on the bottom right - Acrocephalus paludicola

Composition

Extensive samples of birds from Russia and adjacent regions constitute the basis of ornithological collection of the Museum.

As far as geography is concerned, this collection covers all territories within the boundaries indicated. However, their representation is uneven for two reason. From one side, there are regions which collections are still poorly studied and from which bird collections are scanty: for instance, Ust-urt Plateau, upper basin of Dvina River, Middle Siberian highlands, etc. Form another side, there are regions from which most collections are kept in other museums: Baltic region, Ukraine.

The regions which are best represented in the bird collections of the Museum are: northern part of European Russia, Volga delta and southern Ural Mts., some sites in Southern Kazakhstan, Tian Shan Mts. and Pamirs, Baikal Lake area, lower Amur River and Sakhalin, Chukotka.

Although other regions are not extensively represented, there are noteworthy samples of birds from several countries of West Europe, Near East, Turkey, Mongolia, Ethiopia and Egypt. Among less represented are Australia and New Zealand, Antarctica, Galapagos Isl., New Guinea and Philippines. The New World is represented by samples from Antil Isls., Argentina, Brazil, United States; also from Falkland Isls.

Mounted skins of nearly all bird species nesting on the territory of Russia occur in the Museum. Only few species known by single examples or by single cases of migration are absent.

Some species are represented by quite big samples allowing analysis of trends in geographic variation: eagle owl (240 specimens), larger falcons (600 specimens), goshawks (420 specimens), willow grouses (720 specimens), etc. Unique are samples of interspecies hybrids of buntings, goldfinches, etc. that inclide more than 900 specimens.