COLLINS, Paul

From Islapedia
Marla Daily, Paul Collins and Anibal Rodriguez
in the collections of the
American Museum of Natural History, New York
Paul Collins (middle) identifying eagle talons
in the collections of the
American Museum of Natural History, New York
Dennis Power, Travis Hudson, Jan Timbrook and Paul Collins, San Nicolas Island, January 1976

COLLINS, Paul (b. 1950), vertebrate zoologist on the staff of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History who has conducted extensive research on the California Channel Islands. His collections, spanning five decades, include all of the vertebrate groups: amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Collins retired from the museum on 2002.

During his collecting years, Collins collected 398 bird specimens. According to his records, his are the 5th most collected from the Channel Islands. (Linton collected 988; Van Rossem collected 562; Grinnell collected 457; and Willett collected 403.)

Paul Collins is member #17 of the All Eight Club, established in 1994. He became a member in 1995.



» Channel Islands Bibliography-Paul W. Collins


  • 1985. Collins, Paul and Terry D. Martin. A review of the population status of the Santa Catalina Island Shrew, Sorex orantus willetii. Final report Order No. 10181-5693 (BW) '85. SE-0018-85. Prepared for US Department of the Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service, Endangered Species Office, 30 December 1985. Spiral bound, 93 pages + maps.
[original in SCIF archives]


  • 1991. Collins, Paul Interaction Between Island Foxes (Urocyon littoralis) and Native Americans on Islands off the Coast if Southern California: Morphologic and Archaeological Evidence of Human Assisted Dispersal Journal of Ethnobiology 11(1):51-81, Summer 1991
[original in SCIF archives]


  • 1991. Collins, Paul Interaction Between Island Foxes (Urocyon littoralis) and Native Americans on Islands off the Coast if Southern California: Ethnographic, Archaeological, and Historical Evidence Journal of Ethnobiology 11(2):205-229, Winter 1991
[original in SCIF archives]



Collins collected on:


ANACAPA ISLAND
ISLAND COLLECTOR INSTITUTION DATE NUMBER SPECIMEN
Anacapa Island Paul Collins SBMNH March 27, 1979 SBMNH-1841 Anas acuta Bird
Anacapa Island Paul Collins & Brian Arnold SBMNH October 18, 1980 SBMNH OS-2271 Tyrannus verticalis Birds


SAN MIGUEL ISLAND
ISLAND COLLECTOR INSTITUTION DATE NUMBER SPECIMEN
San Miguel Island Paul Collins SBMNH April 25, 1979 SBMNH-AV-23175 Tyto alba Eggs
~ trip ~
San Miguel Island Paul Collins SBMNH December 1, 2007 SBMNH-10162 Fulmarus glacialis Birds


SANTA CATALINA ISLAND
ISLAND COLLECTOR INSTITUTION DATE NUMBER SPECIMEN
Santa Catalina Island Paul Collins LACM July 20, 1986 no # listed Reithrodontomys megalotis Mammals
Santa Catalina Island Paul Collins LACM July 20, 1986 no # listed Reithrodontomys megalotis Mammals
Santa Catalina Island Paul Collins LACM July 21, 1986 no # listed Reithrodontomys megalotis Mammals
Santa Catalina Island Paul Collins LACM July 27, 1986 no # listed Reithrodontomys megalotis Mammals
Santa Catalina Island Paul Collins LACM August 5, 1986 no # listed Reithrodontomys megalotis Mammals
Santa Catalina Island Paul Collins LACM August 5, 1986 no # listed Reithrodontomys megalotis Mammals


SANTA CRUZ ISLAND
ISLAND COLLECTOR INSTITUTION DATE NUMBER SPECIMEN
Santa Cruz Island Paul Collins SBMNH February 22, 1976 CCBER-5657 Aeronautes saxtalis Birds
Santa Cruz Island Paul Collins SBMNH February 22, 1976 SBMNH-5788 Aeronautes saxtalis Birds


SANTA ROSA ISLAND
ISLAND COLLECTOR INSTITUTION DATE NUMBER SPECIMEN
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH September 22, 1975 SBMNH-AV-3285 Sitta canadensis Birds
~ trip ~
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH October 21, 1975 SBMNH-3260 Euphagus cyanocephalus Birds
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH October 21, 1975 SBMNH-3261 Euphagus cyanocephalus Birds
~ trip ~
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH February 25, 1976 SBMNH-3291 Passerculus sandwichensis Birds
~ trip ~
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH April 19, 1976 SBMNH-3429 Passerculus sandwichensis Birds
~ trip ~
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH May 26, 1976 SBMNH-AV-3500 Sitta canadensis Birds
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH May 26, 1976 SBMNH-3501 Carduelis psaltria Birds
~ trip ~
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH October 4, 1976 SBMNH-3643 Anas americana Bird
~ trip ~
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH November 12, 1976 SBMNH-3682 Anas americana Bird
~ trip ~
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH January 25, 1977 SBMNH-3844 Anas cyanoptera Bird
~ trip ~
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH May 11, 1986 SBMNH-5599 Carduelis psaltria Birds
~ trip ~
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH November 10, 1986 SBMNH-AV-5277 Sitta canadensis Birds
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH November 12, 1986 SBMNH-AV-5278 Sitta canadensis Birds
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH November 13, 1986 SBMNH-AV-5279 Sitta canadensis Birds
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH November 14, 1986 SBMNH-AV-5294 Turdus migratorius Birds
~ trip ~
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH July 15, 1988 SBMNH-OS-3751 Tyto alba Birds
Santa Rosa Island Paul Collins SBMNH July 15, 1988 SBMNH-OS-3752 Tyto alba Birds
Paul Collins SBMNH July 26, 1988 SBMNH OS-3750 Puffinus griseus Eggs


SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND


In the News~

March 22, 2021 [SBNP]: “There are a number of things that Paul W. Collins misses since he retired in January as curator of vertebrate zoology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, where he was on the staff for almost half a century. “The diversity: preparing specimens for the research collections, helping with museum exhibits like the rehabilitation of the blue whale skeleton near the entrance to the museum, leading field trips to places like the Channel Islands, Carrizo Plain and Carpinteria Marsh, and interacting with co-workers, the public and personnel in agencies like the California Department of Fish & Wildlife,” Mr. Collins told the News-Press from his home in Santa Ynez, where he has lived for 33 years. Anything he doesn’t miss? “Oh, yes, preparing stinky specimens like skunks and harvesting the skeleton from rotten whales on the beach. And I don’t miss the daily commute over San Marcos Pass.” Vertebrate zoology, he explained, is the study of animals with backbones — birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish.“Everything from the tiniest shrew and hummingbird to the largest whale,” said Mr. Collins, whose interest in science began when he was in elementary school growing up in Sierra Madre, where his father worked as a structural engineer. “I always enjoyed finding and observing birds, lizards, snakes and frogs.” He came to Santa Barbara to attend high school at St. Anthony’s Seminary, then located on the hill above the museum. “Father Anthony Bauman, my biology teacher, introduced me to the museum staff and exhibits at the museum, to birding, bird banding, small museum trapping and how to prepare museum study skins,” said Mr.Collins. After two years at Pasadena City College, he transferred to UCSB, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in zoology while also volunteering at the museum. “When I graduated, I was hired to work in the Department of Vertebrate Zoology by the acting curator, Waldo Abbott. In the late 1970s, I returned to UCSB to pursue a master’s degree in zoology, which I completed in 1982,” said Mr. Collins. Beside Mr. Abbott, there were two other staff members who played pivotal roles in his career. “Charles Woodhouse Jr. was curator of vertebrate zoology for 20 years. He was a marine biologist, and I assisted him with necropsies of dead marine mammals that washed up on the beaches. We had a great working relationship. He allowed me the opportunity to expand my research horizons in a variety of different areas,” said Mr. Collins. “When Dennis Power became executive director of the museum, he sparked my interest in the Channel Islands. Dennis had his ornithology degree from the University of Kansas, a real hotbed for ornithology, and used some of his grant money to pay half of my salary for field trips to the islands to study the birds.” This ultimately led to the project Mr. Collins is working on now, a book titled “Birds of California’s Channel Islands: Their Status and Abundance.” “The last book on Channel Island birds was written in 1917. There is a huge amount of data I have been able to tap into. My book summarizes information about the birds from 1843 to 2021,” he said.

“I have completed 390 species accounts for the book and still have 61 to go. I am on the downhill slope and plan to complete the book by early summer. One good thing about the pandemic is that it has allowed me to focus on the book.” Especially eager for him to finish is his wife Tina Collins, who is retired from her 35-year career as a nurse at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. “We’re looking forward to traveling around the United States and Canada, which will include visits with our children Carrie, a lawyer in Santa Rosa; Sierra, a first grade teacher on the White River Apache Reservation near Pinetop, Arizona; and Joseph, a doctor of osteopathic medicine, in Thousand Oaks,” said Mr. Collins. Paying tribute to the retiree’s accomplishments in a recent museum newsletter, Luke J. Swetland, president and CEO, wrote the following: “It is hard to summarize the breadth of work that Collins has been involved with while working at the museum — exhibits, education, field trips, collections management, contracted studies and peer-reviewed research. During four decades, he has authored 72 peer-reviewed publications, 19 other publications and manuscripts, 120 environmental consulting reports and 69 contract reports, presented 39 posters and papers at scientific meetings, and given more than 80 public talks/lectures. “What a body of work!”

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