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26 March 2009

Roosevelt Pursued Birds as a Naturalist in the Latter 1870s

As a teen, Theodore D. Roosevelt, was in the outdoors watching birds about the expanses of the Adirondack Mountains wildness.

His efforts started when he was 14 in 1874, in the outdoors of the region in New York. A personal interest in natural history meant hiking about the heights to closely observe seasonal birds to denote their seasonal occurrence and little bits of their natural history.

The same focus occurred the subsequent summer season. And, after Roosevelt became a university student, he had a partner in this outdoor effort. They both eventually wrote about their observations. It was published for perpetuity and it a presidential tidbit of history.

Henry David Minot, a fellow student at Harvard University where Roosevelt arrived in 1876, helped compile the written record of bird life they had personally published in 1877. The catalogue was based on observations made in August 1874, August 1875 and from June 22 to July 9, in 1877, according to its text. The focal point was Saint Regis Lake.

The two young biologists hiked around a region of the Adirondack Mountains, in Franklin County, New York. Specimens were collected, though their fate is not apparent in the literature.

Their list of species - updated here to provide a modern common name - included a particular year, with some notes from the original article issued in 1879.

Designated Common Name - Year Seen - Record Notes
American Bittern - 1877 - bittern, Botaurus mugitans; occasional
American Black Duck - 1877 - black duck; breeds, rare
American Crow - 1877 - crow; comparatively uncommon
American Goldfinch - 1877 - goldfinch; common; less so than in the White Mountains
American Robin - 1877 - robin; moderately common
American Three-toed Woodpecker - 1877 - banded-backed woodpecker, Picoides Americanus; much less common than the black-backed woodpecker
American Woodcock - 1877 - woodcock; in July, one was shot
Bald Eagle - 1877 - bald eagle; rare, but seen at least once
Bank Swallow - 1877 - bank swallow; rather rare
Barn Swallow - 1877 - barn swallow
Barred Owl - 1875 - barred owl; one shot in August, 1875; probably not very rare
Belted Kingfisher - 1877 - kingfisher
Black-backed Woodpecker - 1877 - black-backed woodpecker, Picoides arcticus; common; second in numbers to the Hairy only
Black-billed Cuckoo - 1877 - cuckoo, Coccygus erythropthalmus; twice heard
Black-capped Chickadee - 1877 - chickadee, Parus atricapillus; rather scarce in June; abundant in August
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 1877 - black-throated blue warbler; common
Black-throated Green Warbler - 1877 - black-throated green warbler; common
Blackburnian Warbler - 1877 - orange-throated warbler; common
Blue Jay - 1877 - blue jay; moderately common
Blue-headed Vireo - 1877 - solitary vireo; very common
Bobolink - 1874 - bobolink; several seen, August 1874
Boreal Chickadee - 1877 - Hudsonian chickadee; in small flocks at Bay Pond in the early part of August
Broad-winged Hawk - 1874 - broad-winged hawk; one shot August 24th, 1874
Brown Creeper - 1877 - brown creeper; common
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1877 - cow-bird; rare
Canada Goose - 1877 - Canada goose; in some parts quite plentiful
Canada Warbler - 1877 - Canada flycatcher; less common than in the White Mountains
Cedar Waxwing - 1877 - cedar-bird, Ampelis cedrorum; common
Chimney Swift - 1877 - chimney swift; common, and often met with in the wilds
Chipping Sparrow - 1877 - chipping sparrow
Cliff Swallow - 1877 - cliff swallow; seen near Malone
Common Grackle - 1877 - crow blackbird; neither rare nor common
Common Loon - 1877 - loon, Colymbus torquatus; rare, but in 1870 common
Common Nighthawk - 1877 - night hawk
Common Raven - 1874 - raven; pair at Lake Farnsby, August 1874
Common Yellowthroat - 1877 - Maryland yellow-throat; hardly common; very common in the White Mountains
Cooper's Hawk - 1877 - Cooper's hawk
Dark-eyed Junco - 1877 - snow-bird, Junco hyemalis; common
Downy Woodpecker - 1877 - downy woodpecker; once seen in June, and common in August
Eastern Bluebird - 1877 - blue bird; common near Malone
Eastern Kingbird - 1877 - king-bird, Tyrannus Carolinensis; common
Eastern Phoebe - 1877 - pewee, Sayornis fuscus
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1877 - wood pewee, Contopus virens
Field Sparrow - 1877 - ?field sparrow
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1877 - golden-crowned wren; quite common
Gray Catbird - 1877 - cat-bird; observed near Malone
Gray Jay - 1877 - Canada jay; locally common in the thicker woods
Great Blue Heron - 1877 - great blue heron; rare
Great Crested Flycatcher - 1877 - great crested flycatcher; very rare
Great Horned Owl - 1877 - great horned owl; common in wild parts
Hairy Woodpecker - 1877 - hairy woodpecker; very common
Hermit Thrush - 1877 - hermit thrush; common
Herring Gull - 1877 - herring gull; rare, breeds
Least Flycatcher - 1877 - least flycatcher; strikingly common, and much in tree-tops
Magnolia Warbler - 1877 - Dendroeca maculosa, black and yellow warbler; not common
Mourning Warbler - 1877 - mourning warbler; locally not uncommon
Nashville Warbler - 1877 - Nashville warbler; not common
Northern Flicker - 1877 - golden-winged woodpecker
Northern Goshawk - 1877 - goshawk; found in June
Northern Parula - 1877 - blue yellow-backed warbler; very common
Northern Waterthrush - 1877 - Siurus naevius, water thrush; rare summer resident
Olive-sided Flycatcher - 1877 - olive-sided flycatcher; not uncommon
Osprey - 1877 - fish hawk; rare, but certainly breeds here
Ovenbird - 1877 - golden-crowned thrush; quite common
Passenger Pigeon - 1877 - wild pigeon; undoubtedly to be found here at times
Pileated Woodpecker - 1877 - pileated woodpecker; rare
Pine Siskin - 1874 - siskin; one specimen, August 27, 1874
Purple Finch - 1877 - purple finch; common
Purple Martin - 1877 - purple martin; one seen at Malone
Red Crossbill - 1877 - red crossbill; not rare
Red-breasted Merganser - 1877 - merganser, Mergus serrator; breed, rare
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1877 - red-bellied nuthatch; common
Red-eyed Vireo - 1877 - red-eyed vireo; very common
Red-tailed Hawk - 1877 - red-tailed buzzard
Red-winged Blackbird - 1877 - red-winged blackbird; by no means abundant
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1877 - hummingbird, Trochilus colubris; rare; lives in the woods
Ruffed Grouse - 1877 - ruffed grouse; not uncommon
Rusty Blackbird - 1877 - rusty blackbird; two or three seen in June
Savannah Sparrow - 1877 - savannah sparrow; apparently rare
Scarlet Tanager - 1877 - scarlet tanager; two pairs found in June near the Upper Saint Regis Lake
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1877 - sharp-shinned hawk
Song Sparrow - 1877 - song sparrow; common; much less so than in the White Mountains
Spotted Sandpiper - 1877 - spotted sandpiper
Swainson's Thrush - 1877 - Swainson's thrush; commonest thrush
Swamp Sparrow - 1877 - swamp sparrow; found in the wet ground covered with shrubs, which borders the stream connecting the Upper Saint Regis and Spitfire Lakes
Tennessee Warbler - 1877 - ?Tennessee warbler
Tree Swallow - 1877 - white-breasted swallow; common, and met with far from any buildings
Vesper Sparrow - 1877 - bay-winged sparrow, Pooecetes gramineus; common
Whip-poor-will - 1877 - whippoorwill; heard early in July
White-throated Sparrow - 1877 - white-throated sparrow; common
Willow Flycatcher - 1877 - Traill's flycatcher; rare
Winter Wren - 1877 - winter wren; moderately common
Wood Duck - 1877 - wood duck; breeds, rare
Yellow Warbler - 1877 - yellow warbler; common near Malone
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 1877 - yellow-bellied flycatcher; rather rare
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1877 - yellow-bellied woodpecker; quite common
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1877 - yellow-rumped warbler; common in August; resident in the White Mountains

This article was the first printed work from among the array of written history that was to be scribed by Roosevelt. With details on nearly 100 species, it conveys a the sense of status for species about 130 years in the past for a particular eastern American county.

Roosevelt continued to have an interest in birds, and according to history, was first in his college class in natural history. Although his focus for a career was personally and directly turned away from science in 1878, he still had a fervent appreciation for the outdoors and natural history.

There was another article published in 1879, based on observations from Oyster Bay, Long Island. Some of the first notations were from 1874, and following years, with less than half from an unattributed date, equitable for the year the article was once again, personally published. These records are given in chronological order.

Common Name - Year Seen - Record Notes
Fish Crow - 1874 - Corvus ossifragus; shot a male December 30, 1874
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1874 - Melanerpes erythrocephalus; during the winter of 1873-1874, when it was not uncommon
Peregrine Falcon - 1875 - Falco communis; a pair in September 1875; worked great havoc among the night herons
Northern Mockingbird - 1876 - Mimus polyglottus; one shot August 15, 1876
Snowy Owl - 1876 - Nyctea scandiaca; common in the autumn of 1876
Willow Flycatcher - 1876 - Empidonax trailli; one shot June 12, 1876
Connecticut Warbler - 1877 - Oporornis agilis; one shot September 25, 1877
Golden-winged Warbler - 1878 - Helminthophaga chrysoptera; shot May 10, 1878; almost certain I have seen it in summer
Savannah Sparrow - 1878 - Passerculus princeps; one shot December 28, 1878; one other seen; = ipswich sparrow = savannah sparrow
Acadian Flycatcher - 1879 - Empidonax acadicus; rather common summer resident
Black-capped Chickadee - 1879 - Parus atricapillus; nests
Blue-winged Warbler - 1879 - Helminthophaga pinus; rather common summer resident, arriving early in May; found a nest on June 10
Northern Parula - 1879 - Parula americana; rather common summer resident
Pine Warbler - 1879 - Dendroica pinus; rather common summer resident; about as common as the aestiva
Swainson's Thrush - 1879 - Turdus Swainsoni; common migrant; usually arrives from the north about September 20, departing about October 10; have found them as late as the middle of November
Veery - 1879 - Turdus fuscescens; rather uncommon migrants; in spring, passes about the middle of May; in autumn, during the last week of August and first week of September

Both lists combined, contain details on 109 species, and are a substanative contribution to information on historic ornithology for the middle to late 1870s. The Franklin county contributions are notable especially for providing the only information for this place prior to 1880. There are other, previous records for the county in which Oyster Bay is located, among the known historic record of bird notes and observations.

In the early 1880s, Roosevelt's interest in natural history, though subsumed, continued him, especially writing a book on hunting, game animals and related outdoor aspects from the wilds of North Dakota, especially.

Once Roosevelt became President - serving the country from 1901 to 1909 - he was especially recognized for actions taken to conserve natural habitats and resources.

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