Visitor Information

The Bird collections are accessible to qualified scientists and graduate students with stated research objectives and are not available for public tours.

To arrange a visit to our collections or library, please contact the collections manager, Chris Milensky, by email at least a month in advance of your anticipated arrival. Walk-ins are not permitted.

The Division of Birds is open 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Arrangements to arrive earlier or to work later must be made in advance. The collection is not staffed and thus not open on weekends and federal holidays. 

The bulk of our collections are housed at the Museum of Natural History located at 10th and Constitution, NW. However, a portion of the collection has been moved to our Museum Support Center in suburban Maryland. The museum provides a regular shuttle bus to and from the Museum Support Center.

Collections located at the Museum Support Center include our holdings of eggs and nests, taxidermied mounts, fluid-preserved specimens, and other various skins of taxa in which we have large holdings. This includes various penguins (Aptenodytes, Pygoscelis and Eudyptes), pelagic Pacific seabirds (Diomedea, Fulmarus, Calonectris, Puffinus, Oceanodroma, Phaethon, and Sula), Ardea herodias and Ardea alba, Egretta caerulea, selected Anseriformes (Cygnus columbianus and Cygnus buccinator, Anser caerulescens, Anas platyrhynchos, Anas rubripes, Anas crecca, and Anas acuta, Aythya affinis, Somateria, and Melanitta), various Falconiformes (Accipiter, Buteo, Aquila, Haliaeetus and Circus), Meleagris, Grus canadensis, Larus argentatus, Sterna fuscata, Bubo virginianus, Nyctea scandiaca, Buceros bicornis, Turdus migratorius, and Agelaius phoeniceus.

For most of these taxa, less than 50% of our holdings are stored off-site. The exceptions are Diomedea nigripes(51%), Ardea alba egretta (53%), Cygnus columbianus (65%), Cygnus buccinator (52%), Anser caerulescens(74%), Aythya affinis (75%), Somateria spectabilis (76%), Melanitta fusca (67%), Melanitta perspicillata (66%), Accipiter cooperii (66%), Accipiter striatus (63%), Nyctea scandiaca (91%), Turdus migratorius (92%) and Agelaius phoeniceus (88%).

NHB:  Located at 10th and Constitution Ave, NW, Washington, DC, and within a short walk of three Metro rail stations and bus stops. The three Metro rail stations are Archives, Federal Triangle, and Smithsonian.  Onsite parking is not available at the downtown museum, but there are a number of commercial parking garages within 5 blocks of the museum.

Upon arriving at NHB, visitors must sign in with the Visitor Services office located in the 10th and Constitution Avenue lobby. 

MSC: Visitors wishing to examine specimens at the Museum Support Center must make arrangements with our staff prior to their visit, as a staff member must accompany them in order to sign them in and provide access to the collections. Visitors should also plan extra time for their visit to accommodate travel time to and from this facility.

The MSC located at 4210 Silver Hill Rd, Suitland, MD, is accessible via car, Metro Rail, and shuttle service. Visitor parking is available onsite. The Suitland Metrorail station is a five block walk to the MSC. The Smithsonian also provides free, regular shuttle bus service between MSC and NHB; schedules are available upon request. This shuttle runs from 8am to 5pm and is available to all visitors with proper Smithsonian credentials. 

Use of Collections Guidelines:

• All Visitors must sign in the Division guest register. Please provide complete information as requested.
• Handle study specimens with care. Please use paper trays or drawers to transport specimens to the work area. Return specimens to their original location after use.
• No smoking or eating is permitted in the research collections. Smoking is not permitted anywhere within the museum.
• Specimens may not be altered in any way without prior permission.
• Dissections, removal of feathers, skin samples or removing ectoparasites are not permitted without an approved destructive sampling request.
• Emendation of specimen, case or drawer labels is forbidden without prior permission.
• Do not leave specimens out after use or overnight. Close cases immediately when not in use.
• Specimens removed from the collection for study for more than two days must have a removal slip prepared and placed in the collection.
• Please be advised that most of our study skins were treated with arsenic trioxide. Gloves are available for your use.
• Please turn off lights over work tables when you are not using them.
• Access to types and specimens of certain rare species is restricted. Please ask the collections management staff for assistance if you need to look at this material.
• Requests for hand-carried loans must be made in advance.
• For publication purposes, the correct museum acronym for the National Museum of Natural History is "USNM", regardless of the label heading. We request a PDF for all publications resulting from use of our specimens.
• Do not leave cameras, purses, or wallets unattended in a work area, even for a short time. Conceal them in a nearby closet or case. Ask a collections staff member for assistance.

If you have any questions about the use of the specimens or the collections, please feel free to ask the collections management staff. Please bring misidentifications or damaged specimens and labels to our attention. Thank you.