UMMZ Bird Division Farley Mowat Collection
 
     
 
As a graduate student in the EEB department of the University of Michigan, I worked as a GSRA in the Museum of Zoology. While putting away some loaned Downy Woodpeckers I was distracted by an odd blue specimen label. The information on the label was no less distracting: "Collection Of Farley Mowat". Yes, author (and Officer of the Order of Canada) Farley Mowat! Intrigued, I queried the UMMZ database to see if it contained any other birds collected by him. In all, I found 22 bird specimens. The earliest of these date to 1936 from Saskatchewan when Farley was 15 years old.

Searching VertNet (an online database of museum specimens) I learned that there are a total of 535 specimens (and 2 whale observations) logged across 5 museums (Canadian Museum of Nature, CMN; Los Angeles County Museum, LACM; Royal Ontario Museum, ROM; University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, UMMZ; Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, USNM):

Institution Ichthyology Mammalogy Ornithology Total
CMN 0 0 3 3
LACM 0 0 1 1
ROM 24 62 419 505
UMMZ 0 0 22 22
USNM 0 4 2 6

Not surprisingly, most specimens are deposited in the ROM. UMMZ does have the largest collection outside of Canada (so I was lucky to come across it). I have no idea how those specimens made their way to Michigan.