Field Museum's Bird Hall Gets a Makeover


John Bates, Associate Curator of Birds at the Field Museum, took Chicago Tonight through the newly renovated Ronald and Christina Gidwitz Hall of Birds. Learn how taxidermists prepare birds and how they sculpt them to look like they are in natural habitats in our web extra video below.

The museum's collection of birds is the fourth largest in the world-boasting over 1,000 specimens. But understandably so, after 100 years, all those birds can get dusty. Bates explains how the staff repaired tears, cleaned 2,000 tiny glass eyes, and in some cases replaced birds. This one-on-one tour also describes how birds get the colors in their feathers; and what it takes to maintain them after decades of being on display. 

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Bates joins us on Chicago Tonight at 7:00 pm with more on the updates and additions to the Field Museum's Bird Hall.

 

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