Birdwatching Would Not Be Birdwatching Without Theodore Roosevelt

Exploring the Hobby of Birdwatching Through the Eyes of Theodore Roosevelt

If I asked you to name a famous birder, who would you say? John James Audubon or Jimmy Carter? I’m guessing someone you wouldn’t say is Theodore Roosevelt. We know him as an outdoorsman, a conservationist, and a hunter, but you probably didn’t know he was a birder.

In this article of Missing Pieces, we’ll look at Theodore Roosevelt the birdwatcher and the hobby of birdwatching more broadly. We’ll see how the public perception of birds started to change in the early twentieth century and what politicians like Roosevelt did to help save the birds. We’ll conclude by looking into the future and seeing what we can do to encourage avian wildlife around us.

Theodore Roosevelt’s Early Interest in Birds

Theodore Roosevelt, or TR, was born in 1858, just a few decades before the rise of the feather trade. In late 1800s and early 1900s, millions of birds were killed around the world for their feathers. Wealthy ladies purchased feathers for their fans, gowns, and hats, while rich gentlemen used feathers for fly fishing, particularly in making salmon flies.

Illustration from The Salmon Fly, by George M. Kelson/Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

As a child, TR was captivated by the natural world, but particularly by birds. After all, as Darrin Lunde noted, “The birds came to him, even in the middle of a bustling city” (The Naturalist, 43). TR birded wherever he went from the Adirondack Mountains to a holiday in Egypt. He even established his own museum—the Roosevelt Museum—and carefully prepared tags for his specimens.

In fact, the future president originally planned to major in natural history—the terminology for science in the GAPE. However, he decided to pursue a career in law instead. TR realized he wouldn’t be able to be out in the field as much as he wanted. He also desired to provide for his new soon-to-be wife, Alice Hathaway Lee, and wasn’t sure if working in natural history would do that.

Theodore Roosevelt the Birdwatcher

Even though he didn’t become an ornithologist, TR never lost his love of birds. In fact, he enjoyed birdwatching with his second wife, Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, and his five children. He also regularly mentioned birdwatching in his letters throughout his life. In an 1899 letter to ornithologist and field guide creator Frank Chapman, TR even talked about the importance of protecting birds:

“Spring would not be spring without bird songs, any more than it would be spring without buds and flowers, and I only wish that besides protecting the songsters, the birds of the grove, the orchard, the garden and the meadow, we could also protect birds of the sea shore and of the wilderness . . . When I hear of the destruction of a species I feel just as if all the works of some great writer had perished; as if we had lost all instead of only part of Polybius or Livy.”

TR couldn’t even be kept away from the birds as president! Instead, he regularly found time to go birdwatching whether at the White House or at the family retreat in Pine Knot, Virginia. As an example, in a short two-page letter from 1908 to Frank Chapman of the American Museum of Natural History, TR mentions six different birds.

How Theodore Roosevelt Encouraged Bird Conservation

In addition to birdwatching, TR also encouraged the conservation movement as president. He helped to establish five national parks, eighteen national monuments, a hundred-fifty national forests, and fifty-one bird preserves.

Perhaps the most iconic bird preserve was Pelican Island, the first federal bird preserve established on March 14, 1903. Thanks to the efforts of Frank Chapman, TR, and others, waterfowl like snowy egrets, brown pelicans, and roseate spoonbills could no longer be hunted for their feathers. This action saved these species from complete decimation.

Roosevelt, Friend of the Birds/Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Birdwatching and bird conservation went hand-in-hand. Around the same time that TR promoted bird conservation as president, others started to encourage the idea of birdwatching instead of collecting specimens.

Edmund Selous popularized the idea of birdwatching with his book Bird Watching published in 1901. Previously, scientists commonly shot birds for scientific study. However, Selous promoted birdwatching as a non-destructive alternative method of scientific study.

The method of studying birds without shooting them also created the concept of a “big year,” where a birder tries to see as many species as possible between January 1 and December 31 of a given year.

Although TR likely never did a big year himself, he did compile a list of the bird species he saw on the White House grounds and in Washington, DC, during his presidency. The total was ninety-one!

TR also tried to obey the “injunction” to avoid shooting birds and use “a pair of field glasses” instead, but he noted in a 1906 letter to naturalist John Burroughs that this wasn’t always possible:

“I do not mean that one should use the gun indiscriminately; but there are some birds, those that are rare and shy, warblers that keep to the vey tops of the trees, or those that live in jungley places, that cannot be made out by the aid of field glasses; or at least I cannot make them out.”

Adopting Theodore Roosevelt’s Birdwatching Tradition 100+ Years Later

Even into his fifties, TR was still watching birds. According to an excerpt from a memoir, birds were so important to him that he went outside in the winter when the temperature was around zero to place suet for the birds to eat. TR made sure one piece was close enough to the window near his desk so that he could watch the birds eating.

There’s even video footage of TR birding in 1915 when he visited bird sanctuary islands off the coast of Louisiana. Check out minute fourteen in particular to see TR standing in the marshes and observing birds like brown pelicans and royal terns along the beach.

As a self-described birdwatcher, I’m glad to follow in TR’s footsteps over a hundred years later! Even if you don’t consider yourself a birdwatcher like TR, I’d encourage you to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count held over Presidents’ Day weekend (February 17-20, 2023). Step outside for as little as fifteen minutes to identify and count the birds around you and then submit the information to help scientists better understand bird populations across the world.

Another great way to spark a deeper interest in birds is to play Wingspan, a board game made by Stonemaier Games. As the name suggests, the game is based on birds and features beautifully drawn illustrations. The base game includes the birds of North America, and expansions feature birds of Asia, Europe, and Oceania.

Thanks to playing Wingspan several times a week, my husband Cole and I have become more familiar with the birds around us. We have learned the calls of birds in our neighborhood during our daily walks down to the boat ramp. In addition to more common birds like finches and sparrows, we regularly hear—and sometimes see!—belted kingfishers, red-shouldered hawks, clapper rails, and bald eagles.

Figure 285. Belted King-fisher in Popular Zoology, 1887/Courtesy of the Science History Institute

“I love seeing posts from fans of Wingspan who now recognize birds thanks to the game—it’s a testament to Elizabeth’s design and Natalia and Ana’s art. Stonemaier Games has even provided some spare cards to birdwatching tours, with tour guides rewarding people with a Wingspan card matching birds that people identify during the tour.” –Jamey Stegmaier, board game designer and president of Stonemaier Games

Putting out a bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder is something I’ve done for a long time, though, I haven’t considered myself a birdwatcher before getting into birding in the past couple months. I’d like to think my newfound interest in birds is a great way to remember my late grandparents, Richard and Harriet Basinger, who always loved birds, and of course, Theodore Roosevelt, birder-in-chief.

To Learn More:

• Check out Darrin Lunde’s The Naturalist if you’re interested in learning more about TR’s lifelong interest in science. It doesn’t focus on birding specifically, but the book does mention TR’s love of birds a lot. The book is also one of my favorites about TR.

• Read Kirk W. Johnson’s The Feather Thief if you want to learn more about the obsession for birds and feathers in the GAPE and discover a captivating story about an infamous theft of rare bird feathers in 2009.

• Look into Mark Obmascik’s The Big Year if you’re interested in learning more about the concept of “big years” and getting a behind-the-scenes look at three birders during the 1998 competition. If you prefer watching TV, check out The Big Year on Disney+. While the names of the three men are changed in the movie, many of the details aren’t. I found the movie heartwarming and captivating; the book is also excellent.