Collection
The bird collection (MHNC-UP/Ave) currently holds over 7000 specimens, most of them mounted specimens and skins, and a smaller number of skeletons and bones. It also includes an extensive egg and nest collection. The relevance of this collection is expected to enhance thanks to other elements that have recently become a part of it, such as tissue samples (suitable for molecular and toxicology research), sets of internal and external parasites, and birdsong recordings.
Highlights include a large amount of Portuguese specimens collected by Augusto Pereira Nobre (1865–1946), and other naturalists associated with the University of Porto, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as the important collection of African birds gathered by Francisco Newton (1864–1909) during his expedition to Angola for the Polytechnic Academy of Porto (1903–1905). Equally important are the donations of birds from the former Museu Bocage (Lisbon), of neotropical birds (Braga Junior collection), and of eggs and nests (Coverley collection), as well as the various assorted specimens collected by naturalists and collaborators during the 20th century.
The main research lines associated to this collection focus on bird communities and associated specimens, namely in Europe, Africa and Macaronesia, and the exemplars gathered in this scope have been contributing to the growth of the collection. Maintaining and conserving these collections provides us with the conditions to support research projects, as well as undergraduate and graduate studies. Likewise, through this collection, research projects on the role played by the Museum (and its predecessors) as one the main promoters of ornithology in the 20th century are encouraged, namely given that it was the first ringing centre in Portugal and host of the first national ornithological society.
Currently the collection is almost completely digitized and georeferenced, and a subset is already available on GBIF. Curator in
Charge: Ricardo Jorge Lopes
Highlights include a large amount of Portuguese specimens collected by Augusto Pereira Nobre (1865–1946), and other naturalists associated with the University of Porto, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as the important collection of African birds gathered by Francisco Newton (1864–1909) during his expedition to Angola for the Polytechnic Academy of Porto (1903–1905). Equally important are the donations of birds from the former Museu Bocage (Lisbon), of neotropical birds (Braga Junior collection), and of eggs and nests (Coverley collection), as well as the various assorted specimens collected by naturalists and collaborators during the 20th century.
The main research lines associated to this collection focus on bird communities and associated specimens, namely in Europe, Africa and Macaronesia, and the exemplars gathered in this scope have been contributing to the growth of the collection. Maintaining and conserving these collections provides us with the conditions to support research projects, as well as undergraduate and graduate studies. Likewise, through this collection, research projects on the role played by the Museum (and its predecessors) as one the main promoters of ornithology in the 20th century are encouraged, namely given that it was the first ringing centre in Portugal and host of the first national ornithological society.
Currently the collection is almost completely digitized and georeferenced, and a subset is already available on GBIF. Curator in
Charge: Ricardo Jorge Lopes
