There are also approximately 2,000 sets of bird's eggs and about 200 nests. The recent acquisition of two transferred collections will significantly increase the size of the above mentioned collections. Our fish collection is of considerable significance to the importance of Great Lakes water resources, local fisheries and environmental water quality studies. Approximately 50 percent of the collections represent local specimens with most of the remainder from parts of the United States and Canada. We also have some smaller collections of foreign study specimens used mostly for comparative purposes.
Birds comprise the largest collection in the division.
Bird collections acquired over the years include specimens from the estate of K. B. Mathes, the commercial collectors F. B. Webster and F. E. Johnson, the E. Michael Purchase, the G. F. Guelf Collection purchase, the C. K. Worthen Collection, and specimens from H. L. Stoddard, Sr. Bird specimens from the collections along with field observations are the basis for Birds of the Niagara Frontier Region, the definitive regional work published in 1965. The collections are also of historical importance with specimens dating back to 1876. Arthur R. Clark's primary research deals with avian mortality at communications towers. The study provides a unique sample of nocturnally migrating birds obtainable in no other way.