About our database

Brief summary of the database

The Yamashina Institute for Ornithology (YIO) possesses approximately 80,000 bird specimens —the greatest number in Japan— and includes skins, spread wings, skeletal specimens, spirit specimens, eggs, and nests. Since 2001, the YIO has been supported by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology; the funds provided by the Ministry have been used to order, label, and photograph the specimens, as well as to record specimen descriptions. The specimen database was made available to the public online on December 28, 2009; at that time, the database contained mainly information on bird skins.

About label

Label information is extremely important for scientific studies. Therefore, this database focuses on displaying the labels. This database shows almost all of the specimen labels, although a few have not been provided in the interest of protecting personal privacy. In the future, we wish to increase the number of photographs of specimens.

By publishing the specimen information on the internet, the YIO aims to contribute to developments in ornithology, and to bring the work of the YIO to the attention of the general public.

↑The holotype and its labels for the Okinawan Rail Rallus okinawae, Yamashina & Mano 1981.

Notes

Contents of this site can be used under the global license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
1) You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
2) You may use materials for papers of academic journals.
3) You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
4) If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
5) Please infrom us（specimen@yamashina.or.jp）about your deliverable.