Pica marina, preserved by Charles Waterton, 1841

Pica marina bird, preserved by Charles Waterton, 1841

Collected in 1927

Currently on display at Wakefield Museum in the A World of Good gallery.

A slightly faded small blue woodpecker bird, preserved mid-nosedive on a wooden stand, inside a square glass box

This pica marina bird was preserved by Charles Waterton in Rome in 1841. A pica marina is a type of woodpecker.

Waterton gave the preserved bird to his friend and politician, Daniel Gaskell, in 1864. Daniel Gaskell (1782 - 1875) became Wakefield’s first MP in 1832.

The caption on the bird reads:

"The Pica Marina

More than two thousand years ago, Virgil noticed the splendid colors in the wings of this bird.

"Fecit avem Circe, sparcitque coloribus alas"

[This is a quote in Latin from the Aeneid, by the Roman poet Virgil. It translates as "Circe made him a bird and spread its wings with colours". In classical mythology the sorceress Circe transforms the Latin king, Picus, into a woodpecker.]

I prepared this Pica marina at Rome in the year 1841, and in 1865, I presented it to my friend Daniel Gaskell esqu of Lupsett Hall near Wakefield.

Charles Waterton"

Waterton preserved birds in a very unique way. "Allow me to inform you that there are no stuffed animals in this house," Waterton told a visitor to his museum in 1856. He demonstrated this by pulling the head off a preserved polecat. There was nothing inside.

Charles Waterton was a highly skilled taxidermist. This Pica Marina bird is one of hundreds of birds and animals Waterton preserved over his life. One of the people he taught was John Edmonstone. Edmonstone went on to become a skilled taxidermist in his own right, and taught Charles Darwin.

It’s also the only remaining example of his taxidermy at Wakefield Museum. Most of his surviving taxidermy collections were on a long-term loan to Wakefield Council until 2022. They then returned to Stonyhurst College at the college's request.

Waterton used a chemical called mercuric chloride, which made the animal's skin hard. He began by scraping away much of the inside of the animal’s skin. He then stood the animal in roughly the right position. He stressed that you had to observe the live animal or bird carefully to make sure the position of the museum specimen was correct. He made minor adjustments every day, until he thought that the animal was truly lifelike.