WHAT IS THIS PROJECT?

The Electronic Collection of Georgia Birds began in 2013 as a research project on seabirds of Georgia and the South Atlantic Bight. During visits to the Georgia Museum of Natural History in Athens, Georgia (University of Georgia) to study specimens and records, several boxes of important documentary photographs and slides were opened and reviewed. It was discovered that a number of the photographs and slides had been received by and were being stored at the museum, but had not been accessioned to the ornithology collection (they did not have catalog numbers). Additionally, none of these historical images existed in digital format, and some were already showing signs of yellowing and/or becoming brittle. As the seabird research continued, it also became apparent that the ornithology collection at GMNH did not have cataloged specimens -- physical or photographic -- of many bird species that had occurred in Georgia in the modern era.

At that time all of the photographs and slides already in the possession of the GMNH were digitized for safe longterm storage, all previously undocumented items were accessioned to the collection and given GMNH catalog numbers, and ornithological records at the museum that include data for species/date/location of collection would be begin to be entered into eBird (with images embedded in the checklists, where applicable).

Working closely with Associate Curator Nikki Castleberry, Museum Director Byron "Bud" Freeman, and Georgia's eBird Reviewer Joel McNeal (also the Secretary of the Georgia Ornithological Society's Checklist and Records Committee), the project has greatly expanded. Wherever there are gaps or weak spots in the GMNH collection -- species with zero or very few specimens from Georgia -- new photographs are being submitted to be accessioned to the collection. Where applicable, these will also be entered into the incredible database that is www.eBird.org. This Flickr account was created for the purpose of hosting these images (and others) to be embedded in eBird checklists without worry that an image's URL may change, and/or so that the public has some accessibility to research, view, and enjoy on-line the awesome digital ornithology collection at the Georgia Museum of Natural History as it grows. In the future, many more images will be uploaded/hosted here, and will generally be embedded in eBird as well (except where they are already embedded in an eBird user's checklist).

Since late 2014 the project has expanded in new ways, encompassing both historical photographic records and physical specimens representing the avifauna of Georgia from institutions all over the United States. Entire collections of Georgia specimens from legendary museums are being compiled into spreadsheets that can then be imported to eBird.org to generate checklists (as long as all of the data parameters are available); these birds were alive and well on the date and at the locality where they were collected and/or recorded and published as sight records. Institutions involved in this data-sharing effort thus far include: The United States National Museum of Natural History (Washington, D.C.); The American Museum of Natural History (New York); The Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University (Philadelphia); The Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University; The Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago); The Georgia Historical Society; Tall Timbers Research Station; Valdosta State University; Georgia College (Milledgeville); Georgia Southern University (Statesboro); Auburn University Museum; North Carolina State Museum; The Charleston Museum; the Cumberland Island National Seashore Museum; the National Park Service; and several others.

If you have any photos of pelagic seabirds taken in Georgia, and you have accurate information pertaining to date/location (Lat./Long. is required), please contact Ken Blankenship via:

kenhblankenship AT (the "at" symbol) comcast DOT ("period") net