Roger Tory Peterson’s A Field Guide to the Birds, first published in 1934, instantly became popular with the growing numbers of birdwatchers eager to know what they were seeing through their binoculars.

Today, some 75 years later, it’s difficult to imagine those early days, when all that was available to help identify birds were either large, technical tomes written for ornithologists with a dead bird in hand or simpler works that were not reliably accurate.

The young artist and schoolteacher wanted to make it easy to learn birds and be able to identify them at a distance, out in the field. He spent three years putting together the field guide that revolutionized bird watching, working at night, after teaching school all day.

His simplified drawings reduced each bird to the elements essential to its identification, and he devised the handy little arrows pointing to the feature that nailed down a bird’s ID —the hallmark of his subsequent works.

Popularizing Birding

This year we’re celebrating the 100th anniversary of Roger Tory Peterson’s birth and the achievements of this gentle man who was a giant in so many fields.

First and foremost are his field guides, a stroke of genius that forever changed the way people relate to birds. Peterson challenged himself to meet ornithologists’ standards while at the same time to create a portable book that beginners could take into the field.

He succeeded admirably on both fronts.

Peterson, who died in 1996 at the age of 87, was also known as a writer, artist, photographer, speaker, conservationist and mentor to many of today’s outstanding birders.

He won many awards for his lifetime of contributions to birds and conservation, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Jimmy Carter in 1980.

The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History (www.rtpi.org), Jamestown, N.Y., carries on his work today, with a focus on promoting nature study in the classroom.

Kindling a Passion

It could be argued that the whole nature products industry owes a salute to Roger Tory Peterson for kindling a passion for the natural world in so many people.

"Peterson’s approach was truly revolutionary in the sense that it opened up a new world of nature that otherwise might not have been accessible," says Peter Stangel, a lifelong birder and director of science and evaluation for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Stangel is also a contributing editor to Birding Business.

"Peterson’s methodology — field marks and user-friendly guides — helped make bird identification possible for everyone. I think this paved the way for the public to really enjoy and appreciate birds, which helped set the stage for the dramatic growth in birding and bird feeding that we see today."

Remembering Roger

"It all started with my mother calling, ‘Come see the feeder, quick!’ And there would be Evening Grosbeaks plowing through the sunflower seeds.

I also remember my mother selling birdseed out of our garage for Audubon members, using a large, antique hopper scale. She was an Audubon member back in the 1950s, when this hobby was just starting to take flight.

I have her Peterson guides now, hard covers from around 1956, with the species she’d seen checked off. And now I own a bird store, complete with my mother’s antique scale, which I use to measure out seeds for my customers.

I ‘blame’ Peterson for starting this journey of mine, for without my mother and her field guides, I wouldn’t have walked down this path.

So on this, his 100th year, I thank him, and I thank my mother for a wonderful hobby and business venture. Without Peterson’s attention to the birds, it would not exist.”

— Cynthia Fox, owner of the Wild Bird Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Photos courtesy of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History