Combined Florida Young Birders Club Outing to Gainesville: A Big Success!
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
By Arnov Dhakal & Raegan Perry
July 18, 2026
Recently, the Florida Young Birders Club spent a day exploring the process of bird banding at the Prairie Creek Bird Banding Lab and the University of Florida's Florida Museum of Natural History collections from Dickinson’s Hall. Below, we explain our experience.
As soon as we arrived, we learned all sorts of interesting information about birds in general. Mr. Charlie Muise showed us how they identify young birds from older birds and how to see if a bird is nesting, migrating, or neither.
After splitting up into 3 groups, we went to check the nets. First, the birds are caught in mist nets (a fine mesh net used to capture birds), then gently placed into small cloth bags. We thought that it looked like they were kidnapping the birds at first, but then we found out that it was a trick that mimics death. Birds calm down when they die, so it's one of the safest ways to transport them.
Once out of the bag, the volunteers attached a lightweight band with a unique serial number, all without hurting the bird. In total, we caught a few Northern Cardinals, some Tufted Titmice, Carolina Wrens, a Northern Mockingbird, a White-eyed Vireo, and we even got to band a few Eastern Bluebird chicks! Releasing a bird was a bit scary because we didn’t want to get bitten, so instead, we let someone else release it. It was a wonderful experience learning how much care goes into every step of the banding process.
Next, we met Dr. Andrei Sourakav, our guide through the butterfly and moth collection. He shared that the Atlas moth is the largest moth species they have in the collection, while the leaf miner moth is the smallest. He also explained the function of a Lepidoptera's (the scientific order of insects that includes butterflies, moths, and skippers) front and back wings. The front wings are for propelling it forward, while the back wings help steer and control direction. Dr Andrei told us the overall purpose behind specimen collecting is to build research collections that scientists and the public can learn from and study.
From there, we saw the bird specimen collection, which has more than 30,000 specimens and is the 5th largest bird collection in the world. Most of what we saw were the skeletons of deceased birds used for research, but we also got to see a few stuffed birds. Being able to observe these stunning creatures up close was fascinating. Our guide Dr. Andy Kradder’s knowledge offered great insight into what each feather is used for and how it was adapted for different bird species. One of my favorite moments was being able to see the extinct species. It's like a bit of the past preserved in time.
We also saw how taxidermy works. Birds used for specimens come from wildlife rehab centers after they've passed away. People carefully remove the internal organs and replace them with cotton to preserve the bird's shape for display and study. Sometimes, a few bones, like the head or feet, will be kept to show the species more accurately.
Overall, it was an amazing experience, and we recommend it to anyone interested in nature and anyone who wants to know more about our wonderful planet!
Photos by Ashley Lear & Jim McGinity
