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Bird in the Hand

By Guest PostJuly 28, 2012Culture, Generalblue feathers, blue hen, blue hen chicken, delaware, delaware state bird, elena torok, fightin blue hens, gamecocks, jack gelb, john caldwell, kent county, military regiment, paul h sammelwitz, project, radiography, revolutionary war, taxidermy specimen, university, university of delaware, winterthur museum

University art conservation student prepares Blue Hen for display

When University of Delaware Prof. Jack Gelb, Jr., was given a taxidermy specimen of a Blue Hen by a retiring colleague in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, he realized that this particular example of the Delaware state bird was somewhat the worse for wear.

And so Gelb, who is chairperson of the department as well as director of UD’s Avian Bioscience Center, turned to the Department of Art Conservation for expert help.

“This was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn about natural history materials,” said Elena Torok, now a third-year graduate student in the Winterthur-University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. “We happily agreed to work” on the project. (more…)

MU Researcher Works to Save One of the World’s Most Endangered Birds

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Tuamotu Kingfisher is a multicolored, tropical bird with bright blue feathers, a dusty orange head, and a bright green back. The entire population of these birds – less than 125 – lives on one tiny island in the south Pacific, and without serious intervention, they will no longer exist. One University of Missouri researcher is trying to stop the birds’ extinction by working with farmers and residents on the island inhabited by the kingfishers.

“If we lose these birds, we lose 50,000 years of uniqueness and evolution,” said Dylan Kesler, assistant professor in fisheries and wildlife at the University of Missouri’s School of Natural Resources in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. “Because it has lived in isolation for a very long time, it’s unlike any other bird. There is no other bird like this on the planet.” (more…)

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Bird in the Hand

MU Researcher Works to Save One of the World’s Most Endangered Birds