According to the author Xu Yongxian (china agricultural museum), this paper discusses the making method of peeled bird specimens and edits them.

Different shapes of wings represent different flying abilities of birds.

From top to bottom:

? Active soaring type: long and narrow, suitable for soaring on the water (flying without flapping wings).

? Passive soaring type: long and wide, with some feathers at the end, with a large spacing. This interval is beneficial for birds to take advantage of the rising hot air. Birds with such wings can fly without steady airflow.

? Ellipse: suitable for fast takeoff and avoiding predators, but not suitable for soaring, requiring frequent flapping of wings.

? High-speed type: medium length and width, suitable for long-term flight.

? Spiral type: this kind of wing is relatively small relative to the bird's body and suitable for hovering.

The concept and significance of stripping specimens;

Peeling dead animal carcasses is the most beautiful and vivid instantaneous image of animals after peeling, removing meat, degreasing, antisepsis, mounting, filling or prosthesis, shaping, artificial eyes, fixing and combing feathers or hair.

Specimens are necessary items for taxonomic research, exhibitions, popular science education and school teaching, as well as the heritage of natural culture and physical evidence for studying natural changes.

Schematic diagram of bird specimens

Stripping material of bird specimen

It is best to choose fresh and complete adult birds as specimens.

Choose lead wires (such as pigeons, generally choose 16# and 18# lead wires, the specific length and operation will be discussed later), bamboo wires, arsenic, gypsum powder, needles, stitches, branches or roots, bases, artificial eyes, etc.

Measurement and recording of bird specimens

Measurement record is an important link before making bird specimens, and the specimens used for teaching and scientific research must be measured and recorded.

Body length: from mouth to tail (this measurement should be made before peeling the collected specimens).

Mouth peak length: the straight line distance from the base feather of the mouth to the tip of the upper mouth.

Wing length: the distance from the wing angle (that is, the wrist joint) to the apex of the longest flight feather.

Tail length: the linear distance from the root of the tail feather to the tip of the longest tail feather.

Toe length: from the midpoint behind the tibia and tarsometatarsal joint to the lower edge of the whole foot at the lowest point in front of tarsometatarsal joint.

Records (see table 1 for specific tables. )

Table 1 bird specimen record table

Digital bird registration card year month day.

Scientific name? Middle name

Collection time, collection place, common name, characteristics and habits, gender, mouth peak length, foot color, weight, mouth crack length, mouth color, total length, fin length, collector, wing length, toe length, producer, wingspan, grab length, tail length, iris color, year, month, day, geographical latitude, location, etc.

Skinning birds

1 First block the mouth, nostrils, anus and wound with cotton to prevent mucus, blood and excrement from polluting the feathers of the specimen.

Put the bird's belly up flat on the workbench, separate the feathers on the chest, expose the fluff and skin, and remove the fluff, because the fluff is easy to soak in oil and then pollute other feathers.

3 Cut the knife from the center before the keel process, along the midline to the bottom of the keel process, and sprinkle a little gypsum powder at the opening to keep the muscles and skin dry. When peeling again in the future, always sprinkle some gypsum powder, pull up the skin with your left hand (be careful not to pull feathers), and squeeze the joint between skin and muscle with your right hand to separate the muscle from the skin. It is required that the skin from the chest to the ribs be completely separated from the muscles.

Pull up the chest skin with your left hand, pull out the neck and throat with your right hand, cut them together with scissors and block the neck fracture with cotton. Turn the bird over, straighten the wings backwards with your left hand, put the bird's head and neck between the wings, hold it tightly with your left hand, expose your shoulders, and turn all the feathers at the chest opening outwards, so as not to stick to the muscles. Then peel off the shoulders and dazzle the bones, and when one third of the humerus is exposed, cut off both humerus from the root. Pay attention to hold your left hand tightly, cut the bone and then loosen it, and sprinkle gypsum powder frequently.

Hold the shoulder with your right hand, and peel off the back, waist and abdomen of your left hand in circles at the same time, so that the skin and muscles are gradually separated. When peeling to the waist, be sure not to pull hard. It is best to peel it slowly with a scalpel or scissors close to the waist. When the leg is exposed, the right hand releases the shoulder, holds one femur, and slowly peels off the tibia with the left hand's nails until the muscle-free part (above the tarsal wrist) is exposed, and the other side is also peeled off. The birds involved should pay attention not to peel off the exposed part, but to cut it above the exposed part. Then peel off the tail, cut off the rectum, peel off the tail root, and cut off the caudate sebaceous gland and coccyx. Remove fat from tail fat glands, muscles, abdomen, waist and skin. Finally, be careful not to get arsenic on the feathers when applying arsenic and turning hair.

6 Pull the lower part of the humerus fracture with the right hand, peel it around the humerus with the left hand in the direction of ulna, and cut it off at the joint of metacarpal bone (don't peel off the flying feather root in the flapping posture, only peel it off from the radius before the wing, remove the muscle between ulna and radius, keep the ulna and radius, and don't move the flying feather root). Remove the muscles and fat from the skin, then apply arsenic, turn the hair, and do the same on the other side.

7 Check whether the cotton in the mouth and nostrils has been soaked by blood or mucus. If it has been soaked, put on new cotton, then pull out the cervical vertebra, trachea and esophagus and peel it off to the head, then peel it off to the ear canal, eyes, face (beware of eye circles) and then peel it off to the bottom of the mouth. Then clean the eyeball, cut the cranial cavity around the occipital foramen to separate the cervical vertebra from the skull, remove the root of the tongue, muscles and dental pulp in the cranial cavity, apply arsenic, plug the eye socket and ventricle with cotton, and then turn the hair.

8 Remove all muscles and fat from the skin, apply arsenic on all inner skin, and put the skin together.

For some special birds, such as geese and ducks, the head is too big and the neck is too thin to turn over, so it needs another knife in the back pillow or throat to turn over the head. Birds with meat crowns, such as cocks, Dong chickens, silver pheasants, pheasants, etc. You can remove the meat while peeling the head, then fill it with stuffing, or open it outside (but it will easily affect the appearance). Large and medium-sized birds should dig out their hamstrings.

Manufacturing method of lead bracket

1 Because birds are different in size and height, there are strict requirements on the type of lead selected. According to my own experience, the model that can pass through the tarsal bone without cracking the tarsal toe skin is generally adopted, and the model that a lead wire can support the whole body weight shall prevail. As far as the types of wires are concerned, 26# to 8# wires can be used to make bird specimens. For example, very small birds such as long-tailed tits and dark green embroidered birds use 26# to 24# lead wires, and large birds such as red-crowned cranes, vultures and pelicans use 8# to 10# lead wires.

2 combination and measurement of lead wires: generally, three lead wires are used, and the first iron wire is tied tightly in the middle of the bird. There is also a practice that one and a half are one model and the other half is another model. All connections should be fastened.

3 From head to left foot (ventral upward), the lead should be 3 ~ 4 cm away from the beak and 5 ~ 6 cm beyond the foot (longer for large birds). From the left wing to the right foot, the lead is 5 ~ 6 cm longer than the foot (it is best that the lead of the wing is thinner than the lead of the foot, that is, half the wing and half the foot). The third lead runs from the right wing to the tail, which is 5 ~ 6 cm longer than the tail heald (Figure 1). For species with extremely long tail feathers, such as blue magpie with red mouth and golden pheasant with red belly, the lead wire leading to the tail should be made into an Aya shape (Figure 2).

Before measuring lead wire, fill a thin layer of bamboo wire on the back and waist of the bird. After putting on the lead wire, hold the middle of the three lead wires with your hands and gently straighten your wings and feet to make them symmetrical. The lead wire of the foot must be left about 5 ~ 6 cm for standing on the branch or base, turn the lead wire over from the middle, tie it tightly with another short lead wire, and then bend the tied three lead wires into a bridge and then separate them (Figure 3).

Filled prosthesis

Filling prosthesis is a crucial link, and the quality of filling directly affects the next plastic surgery. Because the peeled bird skin is like an elastic empty cloth bag, it is necessary to observe the muscle condition of each part of the bird body when peeling to determine how much filler to fill in each part.

1 Put the bird skin with lead wire rack flat on the workbench, with the head facing left and the chest and abdomen facing up. Use tweezers or pliers (a special tool for splitting the front), gently hold the head with your left hand, and use tweezers or pliers with your right hand to send the bamboo wire along the lower part of the lead wire to the back pillow. It is not advisable to send too much filler, and fill it in turn from the back pillow to the front of the shoulder. Then a small amount of bamboo wire is used to fill the lead wire from the top, that is, the chin and throat, so that the lead wire is wrapped in the middle of the bamboo wire. After filling, it is advisable to touch it without caking and feel soft.

Turn the bird's body around, head to the right, and spread the bamboo thread evenly on the shoulders, back and waist with tweezers or thin strips. The shoulders are thinner and the waist is thicker. It is advisable to require that the fillers in the back and waist account for about one-third of the whole.

3 Use tweezers or strips to send bamboo filaments to the lower legs. At first, the amount should be small, and then gradually increase in order to fill evenly. After filling the legs, begin to fill the tail, abdomen and ribs, first from the tail, and then to the chest in turn, and try to restore to the same size, fullness and relative firmness. It should be noted that the crops in front of the chest muscles should be soft, and finally a thin layer of cotton should be laid at the opening of the chest for sewing.

Before sewing, pay attention to check whether all parts are filled evenly and fully, and then sew the cut parts from front to back with needle and thread. The needle distance should not be too close, so don't sew the hair roots. During sewing, don't tighten the thread temporarily. After all sewing, gently pinch the skin on both sides of the body with your hands, and then tighten the thread evenly, without too much force, so as to avoid skin rupture or disconnection, and tie the knot immediately after the thread is tightened.

Steps of plastic surgery

Plastic surgery is the most important part in the whole specimen making process. How to make the specimen vivid and restore its original appearance is all in the process of plastic surgery. It is also the main standard to reflect the technical level of producers.

1 comb the stitched bird feathers once to make them basically flat. Then turn your head to the left, pull up your right foot, pull your foot as far as possible to its original length, hold the joint between thigh and calf (femur and tibia) with your left hand, push your foot backwards and downwards with your right hand, then push your foot upwards (joint between tibia and tarsal bone), and push your thigh forward to its original position. The left leg is operated in the same way.

2 Turn over, head forward, back up, left hand holding waist from above, right hand holding right wing, pulling back, middle finger of right hand holding the joint of humerus and ulna, ulna pushing forward (secondary flying feather), holding the joint of ulna and metacarpal bone, metacarpal bone (primary flying feather) pulling back, and arranging the feathers of shoulder feather, secondary flying feather and primary flying feather in turn. Hold the tail with your left hand, turn the body, head and abdomen, and arrange the left wing in the same way.

After finishing the legs and wings, the overall outline of the bird has been formed. Hold the tail with your hands and comb the feathers all over your body to make them as smooth and flat as possible. The head, eyes and face are the most important. If you find that feathers are missing, cover them with nearby feathers as much as possible. If you find that a certain part of your body is still awkward; When it is suitable to express the required plastic surgery, one can be inserted at the chest suture and corrected from the inside out until the goal is achieved.

The head shape is very important. In order to show the dynamic and static effect of birds, that is, the length of the neck is determined by the lead wire sticking out of the mouth. After selecting the required length position, bend the lead wire into a hook shape, cut off the excess part, and then open the bird's beak to insert the lead wire into the upper and lower jaws for fixation (Figure 4).

5. Specimens with lead wire fixed on the head have been basically shaped, then a small amount of cotton is sent from the mouth to supplement the eyes, face, chin, throat and other parts, so that both sides are even, then the eye socket is rounded and pressed on the artificial eye (or pressed on the artificial eye after drying), the selected branches are punched, the lead wire at the foot of the specimen is inserted into the hole, then the lead wire is fixed, and the shaped specimen feathers are rearranged with tweezers.

Aftercare treatment

1 The specimens made should be naturally air-dried. In the process of natural air drying, if the skin shrinks for half an hour and causes local deformation, it is easy to correct it.

After the specimen is completely dried, the faded parts in the hairless area and exposed area should be painted. Generally, the parts that need to be colored are face, crown, neck, tarsal toes, feet and so on. In addition, the horny part of the beak, the tarsal toe part of the leg and the toe part should be coated with varnish for protection.