Yale Peabody former collection – “The Birds of Connecticut”
Florence McBride has created two books to celebrate the “Birds of Connecticut” exhibit at Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History. The exhibit itself originally featured the brilliant taxidermist work of David H. Parsons, who spent years preparing the mounts, revealing the birds in natural positions and illustrating behavior as well as essential field marks. With well over 300 specimens, the collection is a guide to the birds of Connecticut as well as a brilliant work of art.
The project began in August 2019, when McBride learned that the museum planned to eliminate this unique Connecticut exhibit. (Even these plans have been short-circuited by Covid-19.) What Flo McBride did was photograph all the species, and divide the exhibit into two digital books, using the Shutterfly website.
Copies of both books will be placed in the Peabody’s archives and the ornithology library, to document what McBride believes to be one of the most important achievements of the museum’s staff, and one of the most significant resources the Peabody offers to the public.
Anyone who would like to see a copy of one or both of the books on the web can contact McBride at fmcb_warbler@yahoo.com and she will set up a link. The books were originally announced in the June 2020 Birding Community E-Bulletin.
You can also download a short 29-page version of the book here.