The first dedicated exhibition looking at the evolution of birds in over two decades will be opening at the Natural History Museum later this spring.
The exhibition will enable visitors to dive into the heart of evolution as birds rise from their dinosaur roots to become one of the most diverse and extraordinary groups of animals in the world
An albatross chick (c) Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London
Through installations and hands-on exhibits, visitors will feel how fast a hummingbird’s heart beats when in flight, sniff the strange oil one bird uses to protect its eggs and listen to the sound of a reinvigorated dawn chorus. The museum presents a vision of the UK in 2050, where birds are bouncing back following positive changes made to protect them.
Specimens alongside these installations include the Wonderchicken, the oldest known fossil of a modern bird which survived the mass extinctions triggered by an asteroid strike 66 million years ago; a stork that flew across the world from the African continent with a spear lodged in its neck, revealing how far it had flown and unravelling the mystery of migration; and headdress of the ‘Hargila army’, an inspirational group of women in the Indian state of Assam who work to protect one of the world’s rarest storks.
The exhibition, Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre has been created in affiliation with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and will open on 24th May, running until the end of the year.
Tickets to the exhibition are on sale now from here.
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