Each of the 53,000 bird specimens in the San Diego Natural History Museum’s ornithology collection has a story to tell – from the American black swift, an elusive bird that nests behind waterfalls, to four Northern storm petrels that fell victim to Hurricane Hillary.
Phil Unitt, curator for the museum’s department of birds and mammals and chair of ornithology, described the collection as “a continuous record of environmental change,” with the oldest specimen dating back to 1869.
Throughout Unitt’s 37-year career, he has overseen the addition of over 15,000 bird specimens, cataloging the region’s history feather by feather. His work even proved to be an invaluable resource after San Diego’s devastating wildfires 20 years ago.
Philip Unitt showcases a shelf of Sooty Shearwaters housed in the Natural History Museum’s bird archive. (Photo by Thomas Murphy/Times of San Diego)He is fascinated by all things avian — from documenting birds to rebuilding them post-mortem, and even in his retirement, preserving their skeletons. And it all started with birdwatching when he was growing up.
He left the NAT last month, but his impact will last for many more years to come.
“One of the things that is so inspiring about working here is being a part of that tradition,” he said. “It’s like future generations can say, ‘Well, Phil Unitt did his part to keep that alive.’”
As a lifelong San Diego resident, Unitt was raised alongside the canyons, rivers, deserts and oceans that shape the region’s topography. He credited this geographical variety – as well as a range in elevations, along with the Pacific Flyway, a popular bird migratory route – for San Diego’s array of bird species.
And he’s witnessed the region’s fluctuating bird populations over the years first-hand. He recalls seeing numerous White-winged scoters, a species of duck which migrates south in the winter, while canoeing across the San Diego River with his brother when he was a teenager.
Over 50 years later, only four White-winged scoters were observed throughout the county in 2025. Unitt notes that one only has to count the number of these birds in the museum’s collection to track their dwindling numbers.
In order to preserve this history, each specimen had to be prepared by scientists through a careful taxidermy-like process. Unitt is one of only six museum staff who are trained to prepare specimens, a skill that he learned at 17 after becoming a student volunteer at the museum.
Philip Unitt showcases preserved parrots in the Natural History Museum’s bird archive. (Photo by Thomas Murphy/Times of San Diego)Crashing a course
It started in 1974. Unitt was a freshman at San Diego State University when he “successfully crashed” an ornithology course taught by a previous museum curator, Joe Jehl.
As a zoology student and avid birdwatcher, Unitt said that he already had some understanding of the “importance of specimen preservation,” but it wasn’t until Jehl encouraged him to become a volunteer at the museum that he learned the tricks of the taxidermy trade.
“You get the basics down, but then mastering the artistry, you know, is something that takes much longer,” Unitt said.
He described the various steps that go into the preservation process, starting with removing the skin. While many bones are removed, a few need to stay, including the last tail vertebrae, leg bones from the “drumstick” down and any wing bones from the elbow down. After that, anything that can decompose needs to be cleaned out.
To replicate the form of the bird, cotton is wrapped around a stick until it is in the right shape, at which point the skin can be stretched back over. The specimen is then sewn up and frozen for sterilization before it can be tagged and added to the collection.
Philip Unitt in the Natural History Museum’s bird archive. (Photo by Thomas Murphy/Times of San Diego)According to Unitt, this skill is “not widely taught anymore;” however, he said that researchers know they can turn to the NAT as a place where “important specimens will be preserved.”
“One of my past volunteers said, ‘Phil, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever learned.’ But because of that, when you master it, it’s so gratifying.”
Linda Squires, a field biologist who works part-time at the NAT, described Unitt as her “mentor in bird-prepping.” She began learning under his supervision 16 years ago.
“It’s a really difficult skill to learn, but he’s very patient,” Squires said, adding that one of his most influential mottos for those learning the trade is to “press on regardless.”
“Your first bird comes out looking like crap, but Phil is very encouraging.”
George Dante, founder of The Institute for Natural History Arts, said that a shifting culture has led to fewer museums employing full-time taxidermists. He described this “dying artform” as a product of “our culture becoming disconnected from nature.”
Dante said that taxidermy in museums is a vital part of conservation. Natural history museums, he said, differ from zoos in that they offer an “intimate experience” where people can “see the real thing.”
Specimens preserved by taxidermy provide museum-goers with the opportunity to engage with animals they may not otherwise get to see. These collections are also invaluable for researchers.
“You know you’re doing something that’s going to last past your lifetime and be of value to future scientists,” Unitt said.
San Diego County Bird Atlas
Unitt has contributed to conservation efforts in more ways than one. He also authored the San Diego County Bird Atlas, which established a foundation for cataloging bird populations in the region and documented over 500 species.
Philip Unitt showcases a preserved bird in the Natural History Museum’s bird archive. (Photo by Thomas Murphy/Times of San Diego)Between 1997 and 2002, Unitt said that hundreds of volunteers surveyed quadrants of San Diego in order to record bird movements before the city adopted its Multiple Species Conservation Plan. The atlas was published in 2006.
Collecting data for the atlas led to many new discoveries. A Gray vireo, a small songbird, was spotted in the winter for the first time, over 10 new species were spotted nesting for the first time and species in many previously unobserved areas of San Diego were recorded.
But Unitt said that the project took on a whole new meaning after the research was complete, as devastating fires broke out across the county.
The 2003 Cedar Fire alone destroyed over 270,000 acres. In 2007, the Witch Creek and Guejito Fires combined burned approximately 200,000 more acres. Unitt said that the data collected for the atlas served as a “baseline” for identifying how bird species were affected by these wildfires.
“That was a real eye-opener, because every type of response imaginable was exemplified by some species or another,” he added.
While some adapted, others perished. Without the data from the atlas, these responses may have gone unnoticed. The San Diego County Bird Atlas set a new standard for ornithology in the region, and was the first comprehensive study of the variety of bird species throughout the county.
Unitt has also served as the editor for Western Birds, a scientific journal, for several decades. Angela Tidmore, a NAT employee, recently began an editorial internship under Unitt, learning the scientific publishing process, copy editing and other skills, such as managing multiple manuscripts. “He’s like a living legend to me,” she said.
“I am also someone who is extremely passionate about birds, and I’m really grateful that he recognized that in me,” she added.
Unconventional path
Unitt did not take a traditional route to a museum career. In fact, he described his path as unconventional and “checkered.”
Before becoming a full-time staff member at the museum, Unitt explored other scientific ventures. He sailed across the Pacific with the National Marine Fisheries Service, wrote for the High Plains Journal, an agricultural publication in Kansas, and worked for an environmental consulting firm.
But, eventually, his path led him back to the NAT working as a part-time assistant for the Department of Birds and Mammals under Amadeo Rea, who Unitt described as a “father figure.” It wasn’t until after the publication of the San Diego County Bird Atlas that he became the full-time curator.
Bird bones on a collection tray. (Photo by Thomas Murphy/Times of San Diego)Unlike others in his position, Unitt does not hold a doctorate degree. His expertise is clear, but lacking the advanced degree did create some obstacles. Grants for research projects, such as the bird atlas, were often rejected, and obtaining funding for the department was difficult.
“It was an uphill battle,” Unitt said, but the setbacks did not discourage him.
Retirement – sort of
Despite retiring, Unitt said that his work as a scientist, researcher and writer at the museum is not done.
At the top of his research priority list: bird skeletons. According to him, they are an important but “underused” component of the museum’s collection. The reason? It’s a lot more difficult to identify birds without their feathers.
“I always joke that it’s not the bird’s responsibility to make themselves easy for us to identify,” he said.
One project he is working on involves identifying species from piles of bones collected from pipes used to mark mine claims in the Mojave Desert. Birds often get trapped in them, leaving bones from any number of species to accumulate in the sand below.
“This project has really drawn me back into one of the things that I really enjoy,” he said. “The joy of scientific discovery.”
He added that he also would like to focus on digitizing the museum’s collection and to continue training student volunteers, passing the torch along to future ornithologists.
Reflecting on his decades-long career, birds are not the only animals that have stood out to Unitt. He said that the “human dimension” of his field is “just as gratifying as the scientific.”
“That’s a huge component of what we do and that you can contribute to human well-being,” he added. “Not only by understanding conserving nature, but getting people involved with it and with each other.”
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