Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) skin, unknown maker

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unknown maker, Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) skin
unknown maker, Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) skin
unknown maker
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) skin
collected 25 April 1964
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) skin, collected 25 April 1964
Where object was made: Lone Star, Kansas, United States
Credit line: Courtesy of the KU Biodiversity Institute, Division of Ornithology
Accession number: EL2020.009
Not on display
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Listen to a curator talk about this work.
Listen to a curator talk about this work.
If you observe bird specimens in storage at KU’s Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Institute, they aren’t mounted for display like this ruffed grouse. They’re study skins, like this cardinal, blue jay, and Carolina parakeet. There’s something so much more poignant about the study skins to me. Seeing them is like discovering a dead bird outside your window. You know it’s dead, but you can’t help buy hope it’s only sleeping.