Chicago Academy of Sciences – Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum)

Image of Nodding Onion plant specimen.
The Nodding Onion is a perennial in the lily family (Liliaceae) that sports white to pale pink blooms that attract butterflies. This specimen was collected by Anna Pedersen Kummer in 1943 from Stony Island in Chicago, a site that no longer exists. Now this plant is only found in northeastern Illinois.

Chicago Academy of Sciences' Matthew Laflin Memorial Building, 1894

Image of Chicago Academy of Sciences' Laflin Building.
The Chicago Academy of Sciences has a long history in Chicago. Founded in 1857, the Academy opened Chicago’s first public museum in 1869. That building, located at Wabash and Van Buren in the downtown area, was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Following the fire, the scientific community and public rallied around the Academy.

Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus virginianus)

Image of Northern Bobwhite nest.
The Northern Bobwhite is a small quail species found year-round in Illinois. The Bobwhite creates its nest hidden amongst plant growth on the ground.

Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis caroinensis)

Image of Carolina Parakeet study skin.
The Carolina Parakeet was the only native parrot species in eastern North America, with a range that stretched from Florida to the Great Lakes Region, across the Great Plains, and even into New York. Like most parrot species, this was a social bird that lived in large flocks.

Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)

Image of a Cooper's Hawk study skin.
This study skin of a Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) was collected in the northern Chicago suburb of Northfield, Illinois, in 1855 by Robert Kennicott, a well-known Illinois naturalist and one of the founders of the Chicago Academy of Sciences.

Wood Samples and Trunk Photographs

Image of Wood Samples and Trunk
Identification guidebooks put information about plant and animal species in the palm of our hands. This identification guide, however, is quite unique. Instead of a book, this field guide is a box. Local ornithologist Benjamin T. Gault created this portable guide to help him with his fieldwork.

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