Explore Birds is an initiative of Local Nature Lab. This mobile bird education program was designed with Street Lab. The program is deployed in ways: (1) a table-top version when an organization contracts with Local Nature Lab or (2) an add-on to the Street Lab EXPLORE NYC science cart. In both cases, Local Nature Lab contributes the museum-quality bird specimens. We were mentored in the art and science of taxidermy at the American Museum of Natural History. We hold permits from the New York State Department of Conservation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife to possess the specimens for education and exhibit.

Our education collection of bird specimens is also available for classroom educators to use to complement science curricula. The specimens were the basis of a bird unit in a Second Grade class at PS3 in Spring 2022. The specimens were used by a Middle School teacher at Little Red Elisabeth Irwin to illustrate species adaptations and to teach species identification. The study skins were included in a Pre-K bird curriculum at the University Plaza Nursery School.

Send us an email if you’d like to bring Explore Birds to your school, library, community center, or playground, or to use the birds in your classroom. We also offer neighborhood street tree tours for schools.

To learn about the origin of Explore Birds, read Explore Birds: Learning Environments in Public Spaces of NYC 2017-2018 – Grant Report to the Blake-Nuttall Fund.