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All the United States California Los Angeles The Moore Lab of Zoology

The Moore Lab of Zoology

One of the world's largest collections of rare and magnificent bird specimens.

Los Angeles, California

Added By
Matthew Blitz
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  Robyn Von Swank
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
  Michele Reniche
world’s smallest hummingbird   Michele Reniche
The front of the Moore Lab   Matt Blitz
Robert T Moore and his white owl   Matt Blitz
A tufted jay   Matt Blitz
A group of colorful canaries   Matt Blitz
An American Bald Eagle   Matt Blitz
Tanagers   Robyn Von Swank
The powerful talons of the Harpy Eagle aka the “monkey-eating eagle.”   Robyn Von Swank
The plumed crest of the Royal Flycatcher.   Erin Johnson
LA Obscura Society dives into the the Moore Lab’s education collection.   Erin Johnson
Collections Manager, James Maley shares the extinct passenger pigeon.   Erin Johnson
Moore Lab of Zoology, 4/17/2023   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Puffin   Matt Blitz
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About

Despite his family being in the business of fur, Robert T. Moore preferred feathers, and became one of the more well-known conservationists and ornithologists of the early 20th century. 

Moore was a bird lover beginning at a very young age. He traveled across North and South America to study, observe, and document these creatures that endlessly fascinated him, and he is credited with discovering at least four new species, amassing in the process one of largest collections of birds in the world. His collection contains an incredible 60,000 different specimens, including the tufted jay, the masked mountain-tanager, the maroon-fronted parrot, and the Balsas screech-owl. 

In 1950, Moore decided to give his collection to Occidental College in Los Angeles. He constructed the building it was to be housed in, now known as the Moore Lab of Zoology, and gave an endowment ensuring the maintenance, upkeep, and further studying of his massive collection. In 1952, the Moore Lab of Zoology was dedicated. Moore passed away six years later knowing that his love of birds would carry on to the next generation. 

Today, the building still stands and the collection is still growing. Now at 64,121 specimens, it is among the world’s largest research natural history collections. Birds that have been extinct for years, like the world's largest woodpecker, are preserved here, ensuring that amateur ornithologists, like Robert Moore himself, will be able to enjoy and study these birds for years to come. 

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Natural History Natural History Museums Obscura Day Locations Birds Taxidermy Animals

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Located in Eagle Rock and near the 2 - Glendale Blvd.

Community Contributors

Added By

Matt Blitz

Edited By

Annetta Black, mreniche, Erin Johnson, Keri Kilgo

  • Annetta Black
  • mreniche
  • Erin Johnson
  • Keri Kilgo

Published

February 15, 2013

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The Moore Lab of Zoology
1600 Campus Road
Los Angeles, California, 90042
United States
34.126545, -118.210011
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