Birding with Theodore Roosevelt

Inspired by Theodore Roosevelt's love for birds, a travel guide for contemporary bird watchers.

As one of the country’s foremost bird lovers, Theodore Roosevelt makes an excellent guide to the best birding spots. From the icy shoreline of Maine to the tropical reefs of the Hawaiian Islands, Theodore Roosevelt watched, recorded, and championed the preservation of American birds. Never in his life were they far from his mind. Their coloration and diversity enchanted him. As a college-aged naturalist, he studied their migration patterns. And in adulthood, he stopped poachers and egg collectors. Most of all, birds tethered Roosevelt to the outdoors. He traveled across the United States to catch a glimpse of an endangered species or to listen to a rare melodic song.

Birding with Theodore Roosevelt brings readers on a historical tour of the places the former president visited to watch birds or the places he preserved as bird sanctuaries. In doing so, it contends with the political and environmental issues that confronted Roosevelt and other ornithological activists. Above all, Birding with Theodore Roosevelt is a travel guide for contemporary birdwatchers. It allows us to follow in the footsteps of Roosevelt and opens up a portal between the past and present. With Roosevelt we can see what birds we have lost, what birds we have saved, and where bird lore must focus for the century to come.