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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.

Joined February 2009
  • Tweets 36,727
  • Following 1,250
  • Followers 25,986
10,221 Photos and videos
🎉 To celebrate BHL’s 20th anniversary, we’re inviting our community to help sustain and strengthen it. If BHL supports your work or curiosity, please consider supporting it in return. 👉 Support BHL’s next chapter: ancrywkv.donorsupport.co/pag… #BHLat20 #ILoveBHL 🧪 🌏 📖 🌱
An historic illustration of bright red, yellow, and pink flowers.

ALT An historic illustration of bright red, yellow, and pink flowers.
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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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🌏 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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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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🦇 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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We’re delighted to be joined by speakers from @NHM_London, #KewGardens @theUL, @usflibraries, @dumbartonoaks, @UofGlasgow, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, University Library Johann Christan Senckenberg, and @wikiprojectnz. #BHLDay2026 Register: bit.ly/bhlday2026
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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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We’re delighted to welcome @VandyLibraries as a new BHL Member. Alongside membership, @VanderbiltU is contributing significant in-kind technical support, strengthening BHL’s infrastructure & long-term sustainability. Learn more: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org 🧪
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Want more news from BHL? 🌱 📚 🧪 🌏 Join 10,000 subscribers and get stories, discoveries, and collection highlights delivered to your inbox. A new issue is coming soon. Subscribe: lp.constantcontactpages.com/…
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🎉The Biodiversity Heritage Library is turning 20!🎈 We’re starting celebrations with a special anniversary blog series featuring remarkable treasures from BHL chosen by the people who know them best: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org… #BHLat20 #ILoveBHL 🧪📚🌏
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This is the news the BHL community had been waiting for: the answer to BUT WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO THE BHL WEBSITE? We've been overwhelmed by outpourings of excitement and relief from BHL users across the globe – thank you @FieldMuseum! #ILoveBHL #BHLTransition 🧪
Biodiversity Heritage Library@BioDivLibrary
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🎉 Huge news for BHL: The @FieldMuseum is taking over the hosting of BHL’s website, servers & infrastructure, ensuring long-term stability and access for its 63 million pages of open biodiversity literature. Learn more: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org… #BHLTransition #ILoveBHL 🌍 📚 🧪
An historic black and white illustration of a paper nautilus floating on the ocean. There are boats, a city and hills in the background.

ALT An historic black and white illustration of a paper nautilus floating on the ocean. There are boats, a city and hills in the background.
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DYK you can scroll through BHL's most recent additions? The latest 100 items span 200 years (1823–2026) and include publications in English, French, German, and Russian. From Victorian poultry manuals to modern biodiversity research. Explore: biodiversitylibrary.org/Rece… 🧪 🌏 📖
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