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Birds egg collections Legal background It has been illegal to collect wild birds eggs since 1954 under the Protection of Birds Act. It has been illegal to possess unlawfully obtained wild birds eggs since 1981 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and it's amendments. Further minor amendments in protection are made in the The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004. To summarise Possessing a wild bird egg collected after 1954 is against the law unless it can be proved that it was obtained legally. This means providing evidence that the eggs were collected before 1954 or obtained under a government research licence. Usually the evidence is provided by data labels with the eggs or an eyewitness statement. It is illegal to sell an egg collection, although it may be given to someone as a gift or donated to a museum.. Collecting policies. Museums are interested in egg collections partially for their value as an identification aid, but the major value is in the information that they can tell us about bird distribution and breeding history. Old collections also have historic uses in explaining past attitudes to collecting, collectors and the attitudes of society to the environment. We would only accept a birds egg collections if it came with collecting data i.e. what, where, when and by whom or it was a significant historical collection.
The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum
Albert Square,
Dundee
DD1 1DA
Tel: 01382 432373
email: [log in to unmask]To: [log in to unmask]
From: David Lampard/Comm/dundeecity
Date: 19/04/2011 01:03PM
Cc: Rhona Rodger/Comm/dundeecity@dundeecity, Julie Campbell/Comm/dundeecity@dundeecity
Subject: Birds Eggs
As long as the collection you have is held legally and there is a sound reason for the display there is no ethical reason for not displaying the egg collection. In fact it could be a way of discussing past and present attitudes to wildlife rather than covering up the fact that egg collecting was once considered a perfectly acceptable hobby.
Curator (Geology and Zoology)
the McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum
Dundee City Council
Albert Square, Meadowside
Dundee, DD1 1DA
Tel: 01382 432384
email [log in to unmask]
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