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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
  • Tweets36.7K
  • Following1.2K
  • Followers25.9K
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…
Image from Biodiversity Heritage Library (@BioDivLibrary)
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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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What would make BHL better for you? As work begins to modernize the BHL platform, we’re inviting users to take a 3–5-minute survey. Your feedback will directly inform our priorities and shape a better BHL experience. 🧪 🌱 Take the survey: bit.ly/4fpc75D
Image from Biodiversity Heritage Library (@BioDivLibrary)
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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 🧪
Image from Biodiversity Heritage Library (@BioDivLibrary)
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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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🚚 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
Image from Biodiversity Heritage Library (@BioDivLibrary)
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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… 🧪
Image from Biodiversity Heritage Library (@BioDivLibrary)
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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…
Image from Biodiversity Heritage Library (@BioDivLibrary)
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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… 🧪
Image from Biodiversity Heritage Library (@BioDivLibrary)
Image from Biodiversity Heritage Library (@BioDivLibrary)
Image from Biodiversity Heritage Library (@BioDivLibrary)
Image from Biodiversity Heritage Library (@BioDivLibrary)
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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
🤖 Made with AI
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… 🧪
🤖 Made with AI
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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Replying to @Elliot_Lake
The images, which were not generated by AI, are in the public domain, so anyone is free to edit/use them, even AI. There's a box you can check to flag an image is generated by AI, and a slider to block modifications by Grok, but I didn't touch these when I uploaded the images.
Image from Biodiversity Heritage Library (@BioDivLibrary)
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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…
🤖 Made with AI
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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