Keepers help in fight against egg collectors

Richard Negus investigates cases of illegal raids on wild bird nests and learns that fieldsports is uniquely placed to thwart the thieves

- Richard Negus

There is something elemental about happening upon a wild nest and gazing at the eggs within. Is it their combination of fragility and gem-like coloration, the sheer variety of size and shape, or the tantalizing thought of the bird to come that captures the imagination most?

Whatever it may be, the collection of eggs for their beauty, rather than calorific value, has proved an enduring feature of British ornithology for more than 350 years.

The Natural History Museum (NHM) at Tring holds the largest collection of bird eggs in the world, numbering several hundred thousand. Most of the Tring curation comprises eggs that were collected in the 18th, 19th, and mid-20th centuries.

The majority are from private collections, donated to the museum following the change in the law in 1981 that made possession of bird eggs a crime. The physical act of taking wild bird eggs was criminalized 27 years earlier under the Protection of Birds Act. However, despite the sturdy legislation, egg theft continues.

In 2019, the NHM’s egg collection was swollen by more than 5,000 new exhibits, donated to the museum by the state. Tray upon custom-made tray of eggs, comprising more than 50 different UK species, had been confiscated by the police from a habitual egg collector called Daniel Lingham, following an investigation by the Norfolk Constabulary and the RSPB.