Ornithology and Theriology

An ornithological collection is a type of zoological collection that consists of a set of birds, of different species and types, such as sparrows, blackbirds, owls, eagles, or vultures. On the other hand, a theriological collection contains specimens of mammals, such as minks, genets, or rabbits.

This type of collection has great educational potential, as they show, firsthand, species that are often difficult to see and identify. Also, when associated with capture data, they can provide information about the geographical distribution of these animals over time, and glimpse the changes it may have undergone.

The collections housed in the MUCBO | Science Museum contain more than fifty birds from the Balearic Islands and about ten mammals. The vast majority come from the natural history collection of the Sagrats Cors school in Sóller. The specimens are taxidermied (“embalmed”), meaning naturalized by extracting, separating, and fixing the skin with the original animal’s feathers or hair, which is subsequently mounted on a mounted skeleton wrapped in padding, or directly on the padding with the body shape of the specimen. They are preserved wrapped in cellophane to prevent the entry of dust, dirt, and possible pests.