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There is the greatest scientific collection of birds in Turkmenistan, which contains 2719 stuffed birds in the division of Nature and local lore of the State museum of the State cultural centre of Turkmenistan.
In the collection are presented 319 kinds of birds to from 17 orders, which represent 50 families. They are representatives of such groups, as Passeriformes, Falconiformes, Ciconiiformes, Strigiformes, Galliformes, Gruiformes, Podicipediformes, Anseriformes, Charadriiformes, Pteroctiliformes, Columbiformes, Caprimulgiformes, Upupiformes, Аpodiformes, Piciformes, Coraciiformes and Cuculiformes.
The collection of birds is located in special wooden cases with drawers, in storehouse of the division of Nature and local lore of the State museum of the State cultural centre of Turkmenistan. Here to every stuffed bird are attached paper labels, where are given data on a specific belonging of each stuffed bird, is underlined its inventory number, sex, age, date and place of catch, a surname and initials of the collector.
Studying data of the labels attached to each bird, workers of the division of the Nature and local lore get a lot of information about a bird. The very first bird in a collection is dated 1906. According to labels time of catch and collectors can be divided into three groups. From 1906 – up to 1920 a main collector was S.I.Bilkevich and N.A.Zarudny as well. From 1921 – up to 1930 – S.A.Alexandrov, E.L.Shestoperov, I.Kolesnikov and from 1956 up to 1957 – S.A.Sekunova and A.G.Rozyev. The place of catch can be also divided into three mainly in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Iran.
The major part of collection belongs to S.I.Bilkevich (1864-1938). Stanislav Iosiphovich Bilkevich – the Russian zoologist, ornithologist. In 1900 he has settled in Ashgabat, before it he worked as the laboratory assistant of a zoological study of Kazan university. First, he was a taxidermist of the trans-Caspian museum of local lore, and became its manager in time. During the period from 1901 up to 1907 he studied disrticts of Ashgabat, canyons of Firuza (now Аrchabil), Repetek, Charjou (now Тurkmenabat), Merv, Imam-baba, Cheleken peninsula, Dagadja and along the Tejen river. Along with the organization of his own expeditions S.I.Bilkevich often accompanied the specialists, who have arrived from the centre of Russia. In 1908 he was in Bairamaly with the artist and ethnographer K.Mishin, in 1909 together with professor A.N.Krasnov (Russian botanist and geographer) took part on expedition across Murgab, in 1910 he has visited mountain Bukhara with N.Zarudny. Later in 1924 together with the professor S. Ognev studied a southwest part of Kopet Dagh.
The laboratory assistant of a museum Sergey Aleksandrov makes a considerable number of stuffed birds. According to labels we can state, that since 1911 S.Aleksandrov has visited Repetek, Imam-baba, Kushka, in 1912 – area of the Etrek, in 1913 – Germab, in 1914 and 1915 worked with S.Bilkevich. With the foundation of museum there has been introduce into practice the order of hearing of the reports of the scientists, who researched the trans-Caspian area (now Turkmenistan).
Within almost forty years Stanislav Bilkevich has created in the museum the interesting and rich scientific collection for exhibition, which basis was formed by surface vertebrates and especially by birds. Mainly, he has visited the Central Kopetdag and the nearest outskirts of Ashgabat. Collection has been processed and published in the form of several articles and notes, among which should be noted especially the analysis of the list of birds and their distribution in the trans-Caspian area. He published articles about mammals as well. In work «The collection of the the trans-Caspian museum. Mammals» there is a list of animals and data for 85 species. S.Bilkevich played also a considerable role in education, as the museum, as a matter of fact, was the first scientific and enlightener establishment in the trans-Caspian area.
Small amount of birds have been collected by Nikolay Alekseevich Zarudny. N.A.Zarudny (1859-1919) – the Russian zoologist-ornithologist. In 1879 - 1892, being the teacher of a military progymnasium in Orenburg, participated in 5 expeditions in the trans-Caspian area. Since 1906 he worked in Tashkent, continuing research of the Central Asia. N.Zarudny in expeditions has collected extensive materials on fauna, which are nowadays stored in the Zoological museum of the Academy of sciences of Russia.
N.Zarudny has visited many regions of the southern part of Turkmenistan. On the materials of first three expeditions he has collected and has published extensive data on fauna of surface vertebrates, specifically birds. The result N.Zarudny summarized his researches in the solid monography “Ornithological fauna of the trans-Caspian area”.
A few tens birds of the collection belong to Evgeny Lvovichu Shestoperov (1885-1940). E.L.Shestoperov – the Russian ornithologist and entomologist, the researcher of avifauna in Turkmenistan. He has arrived to Za the trans-Caspian kaspijsky area on his duty in 1915 and then continuously was engaged in studying of its animal world, paying the main attention to birds and coleopterous insects. In 1916 - 1917 E.Shestoperov was in expedition in Southwest Turkmenistan. He has collected a material, which is now stored at Turkmen agricultural university. In 1927 he has published an article with ecological and biogeographical data. It is the first work of E.Shestoperov on birds of Turkmenistan. Later he worked in the Turkmen state museum and Turkmen research station. Collections of E.Shestoperov are stored in different establishments, including the Turkmen State museum of the State cultural centre of Turkmenistan.
Studying, the collection of birds by date of gathering, it can be defined is it a wintering bird, nesting, settled or a bird of passage. For example, a desert sparrow is presented in collection in number of 14 stuffed birds. On all the labels a place of catch is Repetek, date of catch is May, June, August, October and December. These data show, that the desert sparrow occurs in desert all the year round and consequently is a settled bird. And, for example, many representatives of Emberizidae family, such species as Yellowhammer, Ortolan Bunting and Grey-necked Bunting are birds of passage. On labels of these birds are shown autumn and springtime.
In the museum collection there are stuffed birds, which are, unfortunately, have disappeared from the nature of our country. One of them is a Calybellied green Woodpecker. In the bottom of a body of Calybellied green Woodpecker each feather is bordered with a narrow dark strip, owing to it is formed scaly picture. Traces of such picture can be distinguished and a back as well. The name of Calybellied green Woodpecker is connected with it. Earlier it could be met only in a valley of the Murgab in coastal tugais, consisting of heterophyllous poplar.
There are ornithological collections in many museums of the world, they are studied and there is carried out comparative analysis of differences with modern species of birds. Now scientists-ornithologists of the world do not gather a collection of birds, there are many other modern methods of studying of the feathery.
The division of the nature and local lore of the State museum of the State cultural centre of Turkmenistan plans to publish the catalogue of this scientific collection of birds.
E. Аltyeva – head of division of Nature and Local lore of
the State museum of the State cultural centre of Turkmenistan