Even those bird watchers who might not be quite up-to-speed in their history of natural history likely know Alexander Wilson – or at least his last name. After all, a warbler, a storm-petrel, a snipe, a phalarope, and a plover all carry it in his honor.
When it comes to people with whom you’d most enjoy sitting and listening whilst they recount some of the stories they’ve accumulated throughout their respective lives, few can compare to a well-seasoned natural history museum curator.
In The Owl That Fell from the Sky, Dr. Brian Gill, Curator of Land Vertebrates at Aukland’s War Memorial Museum recounts some of the astonishing histories of fifteen specimens presently housed in some of New Zealand’s finest natural history collections.