Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus), unknown maker

Artwork Overview

unknown maker, Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)
unknown maker, Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)
unknown maker
Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)
unknown maker, artist
Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)
Where object was made: North and Central America
Credit line: Courtesy of the KU Biodiversity Institute, Exhibits
Accession number: EL2020.010
Not on display
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Images

Label texts

These bird specimens represent four of the species depicted in Jackson’s portfolio. Additional species from the series— including the extinct passenger pigeon—are currently on display at KU’s Natural History Museum. While this ruffed grouse has been prepared and mounted in a lifelike manner for visitors to
experience, most specimens in scientific bird collections are study skins, as seen in the specimens of the Carolina parakeet, northern cardinal, and blue jay. A study skin preserves a bird’s skin and feathers and allows scientists to compare specimens from the same or other species. By studying specimens, sometimes of species that are now extinct where DNA can be extracted, ornithologists can better understand bird taxonomy, ecology, and evolutionary biology.

Exhibitions

Audubon in the Anthropocene: Works by Matthew Day Jackson
Kate Meyer, curator
2020
Audubon in the Anthropocene: Works by Matthew Day Jackson
Kate Meyer, curator
2020

Resources

Audio

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.