Field Museum

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... and pigeons have range. 🕊️💯

Just like domestic dog breeds, domestic pigeons have been selectively bred by humans over many generations for specific traits and appearances, creating birds with everything from dramatic feather hoods and puffed-up chests to striking patterns and unique silhouettes. 🪶

The end result is a stunning range of colors, feathers, patterns, body shapes... plus a few interesting hairstyles. 💇

Which pigeon takes home *your* best in show? 🏆

The four maidens of the Field Museum. 🗽

When the Field Museum outgrew its original home in Jackson Park, it was clear that our next space would need to have room to grow. 🌿

Construction began on our current building in the 1915, creating a museum designed from the ground up to care for our ever-growing natural history collections. 🦴

Even the building itself reflects that purpose, hiding the museum's mission within the architectural details. 🔎

In our main hall, the four corners are flanked by figures who represent the ideals that have guided the museum since its beginning: Research, Record, Science, and Dissemination of Knowledge. 🧠

Together, they represent what we do every day here—uncover discoveries, preserve them for future generations, deepen our understanding of the natural world, and share that knowledge with everyone who walks through our doors. 💙

New Pokémon Fossil Museum Tickets Just Dropped ⚡️

Here's what to know:

⚡️️ Tickets are now available for visits July 1, 2026–January 3, 2027. Missed your first-choice time? Check out another date—tickets are still available throughout the exhibition!

️⚡️ This exhibition is in high demand, and tickets are subject to availability. We recommend reserving your tickets in advance to guarantee admission.

⚡️️ After you purchase your tickets, you'll receive a confirmation email. Please have your confirmation and a valid ID ready when you redeem your tickets at the Museum.

Get your tickets 🎟️➡️ FieldMuseum.io/PokemonFossilMuseum

⚡️️ Questions? Reach out to our Visitor Services team for help:
📱 312.922.9410
✉️ [email protected]

*Tickets are offered in 15-minute timed entry windows to join the exhibition queue. You'll select your preferred entry time during checkout.

Prefer more flexibility? A limited number of Anytime Entry tickets are also available each day, allowing you to join the exhibition line whenever you'd like.

A fossil bed mystery solved. 🦅🦖

For years, a fossil bed in northwestern China held a paleontology puzzle: hundreds of prehistoric birds, some with bones crushed into pellets just like those coughed up by modern owls. But the predator responsible was nowhere to be found—until now.

Meet Jian changmaensis—a newly discovered dinosaur and a cousin to Velociraptor. With long feathers covering both its front and back limbs, this "four-winged" hunter was likely the missing predator.

Jian belonged to a group of feathered dinosaurs called microraptors, a branch of the dromeosaurs—the same family that includes the Velociraptor. While the famous Jurassic Park portrayed raptors as large scaly hunters, real dromeosaurs were smaller, speedy, and covered in feathers.

Like other microraptors, scientists suspect that it had long feathers on both its arms and legs, giving it the appearance of having four "wings" that it used to glide, similar to a flying squirrel.

There is still a lot to learn about Jian. Scientists found only part of the remains, but they estimate it had a wingspan of about 4 feet, roughly the size of a barn owl.

🎨 by Lewis LaRosa, colorized by Jão Canola
Carnegie Museum of Natural History