DONKERS H (2021) Measuring the humerus helps to identify birds. LIMOSA 94 (3): 101-111.

The bone of a bird's upperarm is called the humerus. The humerus connects a bird's shoulder to its elbow, and is where the flight muscles attach to the wing. This makes the humerus a very strong bone, which is why intact humeri of avian prey can relatively often be found around nests of raptors and in regurgitated pellets of owls. This study presents a reference collection of 674 humeri of 78 different bird species collected from dead birds. The reference collection was used to identify avian prey remains from Tawny Owls Strix aluco, Long-eared Owls Asio otus and Northern Goshawks Accipiter gentilis. The number of avian prey remains that could be identified increased strongly with the use of the humeri reference collection. A table with humerus lengths and widths is provided

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