2017


Final Flight


Up to a billion birds die every year due to collisions with glass windows and other man-made objects. Scientists around the world are able to collect many of these birds in order to collect data and create teaching specimens for students to categorize and dissect. 


*All animals in this story died of natural causes. Due to previous threats made by animal rights groups, the location and last names of the researchers are not given.

  

 

Sarah removes an American kestrel from the specimen freezer in her flight biology lab. Nov. 13, 2017.
Natalie Wright (left) and Sarah McPeak (right) study a bird specimen to collect data for research. All specimens died of natural causes.

American kestrel taxidermy

Scientific taxidermy has been a method for preserving scientific specimens for over a  hundred years. Weighing organs and measuring anatomical structures allows scientists to add data to national and international databases that track the health of bird populations all over the world.

Hummingbird specimen

Photography is Poetry.