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finding avian fossils


SarahtheIchthyornis

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Hi everyone!

I'm new to fossils collection and have spent more time working on modern organisms. I was wondering if anyone here could direct me to a site within the united states (preferably east coast) where avian fossils can be found, collected, and identified. Any avian material, from any time period is of interest to me!

thank you!

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Welcome to the Forum.  Boy you don't have an easy request.  Avian fossils are super rare since they are very fragile and do not preserve very well.  I collect dinosaur material in the west and in all my years collecting have only come across a handful of specimens.  The North Carolina Lee Creek phosphate mine, miocene/pliocene was pretty good locality to find avian bones in but its now closed to collectors.  Sorry cannot give you any guidance.

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along with troodon's thoughts, there are really no places in the US where you can go out looking for bird fossils and actually find them.  Birds tend to be part of the fauna in a lot of fossil deposits but exceedingly rare.  It is like going to the gorcery store in hopes of finding a potatoe shaped like New Jersey, with big eyes where Newark, Trenton and Elizabeth are.  It exists but you can spend your whole life lookng for one and not find one.  The Green River Formation here in Wyoming is one of the best fossil bird sites in the country (world) yet among the thousands of fossil fishes collected every summer, only a few bird fossils are found every year. 

 

I can give you some directions if you ever get to France.  

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@SarahtheIchthyornis, as already stated, avian fossils are really hard to find and it does not make much sense to collect them in the field specifically for research purposes. You would work month over month in the field, not finding any.

 

The most important question is: What would you like to do with the fossils? You are a scientist, so whats the question you are asking?

Fortunately, there are some solutions to your problem:
- Can you use already published results on avian fossils for you own research?

- You can connect yourself with important museums. One of the purposes of museums is to serve scientists.

- If you really would like to own some avian fossils for yourself, you can try to connect yourself with operators of "fossil mines" in e.g.

2 hours ago, jpc said:

The Green River Formation here in Wyoming is one of the best fossil bird sites

Good luck!
Franz Bernhard

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I see a fair number of Pleistocene avian bones from Florida. I am not sure of the exact locations where these are found though. 

 

As others have already pointed out, they are rare and elusive fossils.  

 

Best of luck to you. 

 

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I can't speak for American locations, but in the Netherlands some sites do produce a fair number of avian fossils. One of these is the Banjaard, in the south-west of the country, where Pleistocene bird specimens are not uncommon. I haven't found anything extraordinary yet, but these are some of the nicer finds:

image00002.thumb.jpeg.9709e3fbd3e64f6f64b109ecdb8f6ab7.jpeg

On the left is a carpometacarpus of a loon (Gavia sp.), next to it a tarsometatarsus of a duck (Anatidae indet.) (both of these identifications were done by Bram Langeveld from Het Natuurhistorisch Rotterdam). On the right are some more bird bones, including a nice chest vertebra, that we weren't able to identify further. The big one might be from a great auk (Pinguinus impennis) but that's really just a wild guess based on its size. I also found some more avian bones, but they weren't very nice (and not identifiable) so I didn't include them in the picture. 

 

Now I am aware that the Netherlands is probably a bit too far away for you to just go for a day of fossil hunting, but I wanted to share this to show that avian fossils can be found if you're looking in the right spots. And if you're ever in the Netherlands, feel free to shoot me a message and I'll gladly tell you how to get to the Banjaard and how to find some nice fossils (birds & more). 

 

Good luck in your quest for bird fossils :) 

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Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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The only place I can think of is the La Brea Tar Pits, but you can't collect there. I have found fragments of bird bones at Calvert Cliffs, MD but they look like something chewed and digested them and the only clue they might be avian is the hollowness of the bones so I doubt they can be ID'd with any confidence.

 

Have you tried New Zealand? A lot of bird fossils can be found there.

 

P.S. @Auspex

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4 hours ago, Max-fossils said:

I can't speak for American locations, but in the Netherlands some sites do produce a fair number of avian fossils. One of these is the Banjaard, in the south-west of the country, where Pleistocene bird specimens are not uncommon. I haven't found anything extraordinary yet, but these are some of the nicer finds:

 

 

Nice stuff, Max.  

 

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2 hours ago, jpc said:

Nice stuff, Max.  

 

Thanks :) 

Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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On 6/2/2020 at 11:11 PM, jpc said:

there are really no places in the US where you can go out looking for bird fossils and actually find them

 

Agreed, I've only found a few possible avian bones while out west (hell creek, lance & judith river) and managed to find an awesome predatory bird talon while hunting the peace river in Florida. 

Best advice I can give you is go fossil hunting in the right formations (late cretaceous to recent, although it would be rarer in the former) and be happy if a bird fossil shows up. I know the feeling of having a specific goal or particular hopes in mind when fossil hunting, but it is best to just take what mother nature provides you rather than being bummed that you didn't find what you were looking for specifically.

Birds can be found at the Calvert Cliffs, Aurora, down to Florida and there have even been late cretaceous bird bones found in New Jersey, but in all areas they are hard to come by.

 

With all of this said, it shouldn't dissuade you from trying!  

IMG_2508.thumb.JPG.b2a57c16eaa5f48370245f6ce19489bc.JPG

Here's my talon from the Peace River.

5ed88a196a608_IMG_5711(1).JPG.d161d0d9b656c2e4ba80e82ea5868dbe.JPG

IMG_5718.JPG.68d0439558b508f4deeffe0a3cf16fca.JPG

And a possible bird or other small theropod from the Hell Creek fm. of North Dakota.

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On 6/2/2020 at 11:11 PM, jpc said:

 It is like going to the gorcery store in hopes of finding a potatoe shaped like New Jersey, with big eyes where Newark, Trenton and Elizabeth are.  It exists but you can spend your whole life lookng for one and not find one. 

Interesting analogy :zzzzscratchchin::heartylaugh:

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