From Leiden to Leuven: the journey of early ornithological type specimens currently in the KU Leuven Museum of Zoology, Belgium

The Museum of Zoology in Leuven, Belgium, holds historical bird type specimens, donated from the collections of the (then) Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (Leiden, The Netherlands) by order of King Willem I before the independence of Belgium in 1830. Based on archival documents and the Leiden catalog, we enumerate Columba lacernulata Temminck, 1822 (now Ducula lacernulata lacernulata), Columba tigrina Temminck, 1809 (now Spilopelia chinensis tigrina), Columba aromatica Temminck, 1813 (now Treron fulvicollis fulvicollis), Columba oxyura Temminck, 1823 (now Treron oxyurus), and Bucco corvinus Temminck, 1831 (now Psilopogon corvinus). The Leiden catalog also mentions type specimens of Columba rufina Temminck, 1809 (now Patagioenas cayennensis cayennensis) and Bucco armillaris Temminck, 1821 (now Psilopogon armillaris armillaris) being sent, but these are not present in Leuven in 2025; possibly they were destroyed during the city bombing in 1944.