Biodiversity Heritage Library@BioDivLibrary

The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) provides free & open access to 63+ million pages of biodiversity literature online.

 everywhere, all the time
biodiversitylibrary.org/
Joined February 2009
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BHL needs ongoing support to grow, improve, and remain open to everyone. 📚️ 🧪 Like the eggs in these historic plates, recurring gifts can be Swallow-sized, Puffin-sized, Falcon-sized, or anything in between. 🐣 What size BHL Sustainer will you be? ancrywkv.donorsupport.co/pag…
An historic illustration of different sized eggs

ALT An historic illustration of different sized eggs
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Last year, the BHL community helped us take flight into a new independent future. Now we need reliable monthly support to sustain the people, systems & infrastructure that keep BHL’s 64 million pages freely available to everyone. 🧪 Become a #BHLSustainer ancrywkv.donorsupport.co/pag…
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It's #OwlAwarenessDay! These #owls are from Atlante Ornitologico (1902). Contributed to BHL by the Research Library of @AMNH : biodiversitylibrary.org/page… 🧪🦉
An historic illustration of 9 species of owls perches on tree branches and rocks.

ALT An historic illustration of 9 species of owls perches on tree branches and rocks.
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BHL’s latest newsletter is out! Catch up on BHL in @guardian, our server move to the @FieldMuseum, the new BHL Community Forum, Annual Meeting highlights, new member news, and more from our 20th anniversary year. Read it here: conta.cc/4ffdROv 🧪
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🚚 The BHL server move has reached its biggest milestone! From 25–30 June, BHL’s web traffic will switch from the Smithsonian to the Field Museum. BHL will remain online, but full-text search, filters & on-demand PDFs will be unavailable. Learn more: about.biodiversitylibrary.or… 🧪
An historic map of north eastern USA, with a red arrow between Washington DC and Chicago

ALT An historic map of north eastern USA, with a red arrow between Washington DC and Chicago

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Did you see BHL in @theguardian.com?🌱 It’s a powerful reminder of why biodiversity knowledge matters. If BHL has fuelled your research, teaching, art, writing, conservation work, or curiosity, please consider a monthly gift to support its future. 🧪 theguardian.com/environment/…

A bonanza for fans of the natural world: the digital library sharing 64m pages of scientific...

The Biodiversity Heritage Library is an invaluable online archive of historic texts on species living and lost supplied by the world’s leading museums and universities. Now its future is in doubt

theguardian.com
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BHL is featured in the @guardian's Age of Extinction series. The article highlights the extraordinary value of BHL and the urgent need to ensure it remains free and open into the future. Please read and share: theguardian.com/environment/… 🧪 🌎 📖 🔗 🐟 💚

A bonanza for fans of the natural world: the digital library sharing 64m pages of scientific...

The Biodiversity Heritage Library is an invaluable online archive of historic texts on species living and lost supplied by the world’s leading museums and universities. Now its future is in doubt

theguardian.com
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🚚 BHL’s servers are on the move! Over the next 3 weeks, BHL’s technical infrastructure will journey from the Smithsonian in Washington DC to the Field Museum in Chicago. BHL will remain online, with only #FullTextSearch affected while in transit. More: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org…🧪
An historic map of north east United States

ALT An historic map of north east United States
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BHL celebrated 20 years at our 2026 Annual Meeting in London, hosted by @NHM_London and #KewGardens. Partners gathered to reflect on two decades of collaboration and plan the next chapter for open biodiversity knowledge. Read more: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org… #BHLat20
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📢 If you haven’t discovered it already, check out the BHL Community Forum on Discourse 🌿 📚 Connect with the global BHL community to ask/answer questions, share projects and ideas, discuss tools and data, and explore biodiversity literature. 🧪 🌏 ➡️ forum.biodiversitylibrary.or…
A screenshot of a post on an online community forum

ALT A screenshot of a post on an online community forum

A screenshot of a post on an online community forum

ALT A screenshot of a post on an online community forum

A screenshot of a post on an online community forum

ALT A screenshot of a post on an online community forum

A screenshot of a post on an online community forum

ALT A screenshot of a post on an online community forum

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This #BiodiversityDay, BHL needs your help. Since transitioning from the Smithsonian, we are reliant on public donations to keep BHL's 64 million pages freely accessible and discoverable online. 🧪🌱 🌏 Please consider a one-time or recurring donation: ancrywkv.donorsupport.co/pag…
An historic illustration of yellow and blue striped fish.

ALT An historic illustration of yellow and blue striped fish.
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Missed #BHLDay2026? Or want to relive it? The recordings and slides are now available! Thank you @NHM_London for hosting this fabulous event, and to all the wonderful speakers for sharing their work, stories, and ideas for BHL's future: about.biodiversitylibrary.or… 🧪
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This beautiful illustration is from Alfred Moquin-Tandon's "The world of the sea" (1869) digitized for BHL by @SILibraries : biodiversitylibrary.org/page…
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🌏 We think every day is #EarthDay. To take a deep dive into the incredible biodiversity of our precious planet, peruse the 63+ million pages (800+ years) of biodiversity knowledge on BHL. biodiversitylibrary.org #EarthDay2026 #ILoveBHL 🧪 📖 🌱
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🦇 Happy #BatAppreciationDay! The ghost bat (Macroderma gigas), native to Australia, gets its name from its extremely thin wing membrane, which gives it a ghostly appearance at night. #SciArt: Proc Zool Soc London (1880) on BHL via @NHM_London @NHM_Library biodiversitylibrary.org/page…
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🌻 Spring has sprung in the northern hemisphere! To celebrate, we present this spectacular collection of watercolour & pencil illustrations of "British Flowers" by Elizabeth Wharton and Margaret Wharton [1793-1811] on BHL via @oak_spring: biodiversitylibrary.org/bibl… 🧪
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At #BHLDay2026, Qiangian Hiris Gu, Ben Hartley & Vincent Smith @NHM_London will share their work transforming the biodiversity literature on BHL into structured, machine-actionable data at a planetary scale. 🧪 📅 29 April | London + online 🎟️ Register: bit.ly/bhlday2026
A page of beetle specimens with the details of BHL Day 2026 overlaid

ALT A page of beetle specimens with the details of BHL Day 2026 overlaid
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Join us at #BHLDay2026: “Towards a Biodiversity Data Ecosystem Built on BHL Data” 🌱 AI + structured biodiversity literature 🌱 OCR + multilingual data challenges 🌱 Real-world systems like @WRMarineSpecies 📅 29 April | London + online 🎟️ Register: bit.ly/bhlday2026
A page filled with beetle specimens.

ALT A page filled with beetle specimens.

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Handwritten notes. Hand-painted birds. A 19th-century field diary that shaped one of the most ambitious natural history works ever published. Explore Osbert Salvin’s Central American field diary in our #BHLat20 series via @museumsvictoria's Library: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org… 🧪
Promotional graphic for the BHL at 20 Anniversary Series featuring the title “Osbert Salvin’s Central American Field Diary” over a background of a handwritten page with a painted illustration of a bird’s head and leg, alongside a “BHL 20” anniversary logo.

ALT Promotional graphic for the BHL at 20 Anniversary Series featuring the title “Osbert Salvin’s Central American Field Diary” over a background of a handwritten page with a painted illustration of a bird’s head and leg, alongside a “BHL 20” anniversary logo.
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🥚 Bird eggs are not just beautiful; they’re essential scientific data. This remarkable 1856 work, Zur Fortpflanzungsgeschichte der gesammten Vögel, features 100 hand-coloured plates used by early naturalists to document and compare species. Explore: biodiversitylibrary.org/item…
Hand-coloured 19th-century illustration of multiple bird eggs with varied speckled patterns and tones, showing differences across species.

ALT Hand-coloured 19th-century illustration of multiple bird eggs with varied speckled patterns and tones, showing differences across species.

Hand-coloured 19th-century illustration of bird eggs in shades of blue, green, and brown, showing natural variation across species.

ALT Hand-coloured 19th-century illustration of bird eggs in shades of blue, green, and brown, showing natural variation across species.

Hand-coloured 19th-century illustration of bird eggs arranged in a circular composition, highlighting variation in colour and surface pattern.

ALT Hand-coloured 19th-century illustration of bird eggs arranged in a circular composition, highlighting variation in colour and surface pattern.

Hand-coloured 19th-century illustration of multiple bird eggs with varied speckled patterns and tones.

ALT Hand-coloured 19th-century illustration of multiple bird eggs with varied speckled patterns and tones.

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