The ornithological collection of the Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania - Part 1: the catalogue of bird skin specimens

Abstract

This paper reviews the bird skin collection housed in the Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The collection includes 925 specimens, belonging to 193 species from 53 families and 20 orders, collected between 1859 and 2021. Due to its historical background and the presence of rare species, it is considered to be one of most important ornithological collections in Eastern Europe. Such a collection can serve as a basis for valuable ornithological studies. Furthermore, a map representation with new distribution data for bird species is provided, which represents a source of information for the status of the avifauna of the Carpathian basin in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Keywords: Aves; biodiversity; bird skin; museum; ornithological collections; ornithology.