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Published: March 3, 2015

Peregrines, Dermestids & Social Media

Mary Hennen, Assistant Collections Manager, Birds; Director, Chicago Peregrine Program, Gantz Family Collections Center

Educating the public about the work done behind the scenes in the non-public areas is important to the mission of The Field Museum. By sharing our collections and the research we do we can stimulate an interest and understanding of natural history and the how we fit into world around us.

In 2014, The Field Museum’s Bird Department hosted over 3100 visitors, 335 students, and assisted numerous visiting scientists in using the collection.  That doesn’t account for the number of people reached thru programs in the public areas of the museum and outside the museum. Not to mention sharing information through email, phone & the museum website. 

So, what does that mean to me and the work I do? How can I reach a wider audience in order to educate them about Illinois Peregrines? Or impart the importance of natural history collections?

Social media provides an excellent means to engage the public. Along with Stephanie Ware (Insect Collection), we created a website for The Chicago Peregrine Program.  The website made information on Illinois Peregrines more readily available to others and provides an avenue for the public to interact with program personnel.

Six months ago the Illinois Peregrine Facebook page was created. As of January 2015, this page has been viewed and “liked” by individuals in 45 countries outside the United States.  While an average Peregrine Facebook page post reaches approximately 1000 individuals, our most viewed post reached a total of 33,680 facebook users.

The Peregrine Falcon work is just one aspect of my work at the Museum.  What about sharing some of the work I do in the bird collection?  Lucky me as I work in one of the most visited places in The Field Museum, the infamous “Bug Room” (i.e. the dermestid beetle colonies that we use in the bird collection to prepare our skeletal specimens).  FYI - Our colonies are among the most active in the world, processing an average of 4000 avian specimens annually.

So, I thought it’d be fun to bring the fascinating world of beetles and bird skeletons to the world, hence, the Facebook Bird Bug Room page has been created  My goal with this blog is to share some of the things that fascinate me as I perform the work I do managing the most active dermestid beetle colonies in the world.

I hope you’ll be as excited about this as I am.  Please share this post with others and together our reach can be far beyond on the walls of this institution.

Mary Hennen
Assistant Collections Manager, Birds; Director, Chicago Peregrine Program

I have been working in the Bird Collection in some capacity (at times student, volunteer, or staff), since 1989. Much of my time is spent with skeletal prep including managing the Bird's Dermestid colonies.

My primary work outside of the bird collection is with Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus). As recently as 1960's, Peregrines had been extirpated east of the Rockies.

Many factors contributed to the decline of Peregrines, including habitat loss, hunting, and egg collecting, though the predominant cause was effects of organochlorines such as DDT. By comparing the egg shell thickness of the few remaining peregrines to historic oology collections including the Field Museum's, scientists discovered that DDT and it's byproducts interfered with calcium production in females causing them to lay thin eggs which subsequently were crushed during incubation.

With the recovery of the species, the Chicago Peregrine Program now directs it's focus towards monitoring Peregrines in Illinois. The Peregrine Falcon was removed from the Federal Endangered Species List in 2000 and has been approved for removal from the Illinois State Endangered and Threatened Species List in 2015.

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