Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Our Treasures: Bird egg collections in Whangārei Museum archives valuable research tool

By Natalie Brookland
Northern Advocate·
2 Oct, 2018 01:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Tern and oyster catcher eggs donated by Nick Boyce-Bacon in the Whangārei Museum archives at Kiwi North (2014.75 (1). Photo / Supplied

Tern and oyster catcher eggs donated by Nick Boyce-Bacon in the Whangārei Museum archives at Kiwi North (2014.75 (1). Photo / Supplied

The beginning of spring is not always determined by fixed calendar dates, but is often defined by the phenological occurrences relating to plant and animal life cycle events influenced by the seasons.

Spring is possibly more noticeable in the country with the birth of lambs, flowering of daffodils and nesting of birds.

In fact, there is a science for the study of bird nests called Caliology, but it was the study and collecting of bird eggs that was of greater interest in the 19th century.

Oology, sometimes called egg collecting, birdnesting or egging, refers to the hobby of collecting wild birds' eggs, and during the 1800s it became increasingly popular.

The Victorians were obsessed with oology and caliology.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Naturalists and bird hobbyists enthusiastically collected bird eggs and nests for display in private collections and museums, the more experienced collectors being employed by such institutions for the sole purpose of broadening their natural history collections.

Emu eggs (T790). Photo / Supplied
Emu eggs (T790). Photo / Supplied

Although Whangārei Museum holds various bird egg collections and individual egg specimens, it is on a much smaller scale compared with larger museums, such as the Natural History Museum in London which holds an astounding 610,000 eggs in its collection.

Oology was seen as an entirely worthy and indeed wholesome hobby, especially for children who were out in the fresh air and learning their natural history at the same time.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Dedicated Victorian egg collectors would swap, sell or trade their eggs - creating fevered competition among wealthy or intrepid collectors.

Some enthusiasts would go to extreme lengths to collect eggs and although considered a hobby, it was not for the faint hearted.

One famous 19th century ornithologist was willing to have his tooth pulled out to remove an egg that had become stuck in his mouth after he had placed it there for safekeeping before climbing down the tree.

Another egg fanatic was strangled to death by his climbing rope while trying to reach a nest on his honeymoon.

Discover more

Historic wallpaper samples in museum archives

04 Sep 02:00 AM

Rattan shields deflected arrows and spears in battle

11 Sep 02:00 AM

Antique barbershop chair needs preserving

18 Sep 02:30 AM

Where have all the coachbuilders and wheelwrights gone?

25 Sep 01:30 AM
Coverpage of June 1879 issue of <i>Oologist</i> (Utica, NY). Photo / Supplied
Coverpage of June 1879 issue of <i>Oologist</i> (Utica, NY). Photo / Supplied

Unfortunately, the history behind the museum's egg collections is patchy but they still provide a wealth of information in their own right for students and researchers alike.

Comprising native and exotic eggs with natural subtle and varied hues, these examples demonstrate how evolution has dictated the diversity of colour patterns in the bird eggshells for various purposes such as mimicry, recognition and camouflage.

Victorian oologists never dreamed of how their eggs would be used in the future and in some cases, these historical eggs have played a role in recent major scientific discoveries.

While the collection of wild bird's eggs by amateurs was considered a respectable scientific pursuit in the 19th and early 20th centuries, from the mid 1900s onwards it was increasingly regarded as being a hobby rather than a scientific discipline.

Thankfully, many of the vintage egg collections have found their way into museums or other types of research institutions where they can be used by scientists to help better understand bird taxonomy as well as recognise the effects of environmental pollution and climate change on current bird populations.

One of the bird egg collections in the Whangārei Museum archives, unknown donor. Photo / Supplied
One of the bird egg collections in the Whangārei Museum archives, unknown donor. Photo / Supplied

Although 19th century oology-mania has declined and the collection of bird nests and eggs is more regulated, there are still countless opportunities for today's amateur bird fandoms to study these perfectly formed wonders of nature.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

■ Natalie Brookland is collection registrar, Whangarei Museum at Kiwi North.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Northland police adopt new limits for mental health callouts

13 Jun 02:15 AM
Northern Advocate

Northland chaplain leads way to help homeless move from tent to cabin

13 Jun 12:00 AM
Northern Advocate

NZ Herald Premium subscription special offer: Get the best journalism from here and abroad

13 Jun 12:00 AM

It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northland police adopt new limits for mental health callouts

Northland police adopt new limits for mental health callouts

13 Jun 02:15 AM

Northland begins phase two of national changes to mental health callouts.

Northland chaplain leads way to help homeless move from tent to cabin

Northland chaplain leads way to help homeless move from tent to cabin

13 Jun 12:00 AM
NZ Herald Premium subscription special offer: Get the best journalism from here and abroad

NZ Herald Premium subscription special offer: Get the best journalism from here and abroad

13 Jun 12:00 AM
Divers remove 130,000 sea urchins to protect marine reserve

Divers remove 130,000 sea urchins to protect marine reserve

12 Jun 11:09 PM
The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE
sponsored

The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP