Theodore Roosevelt and Birding in Washington, DC

Theodore Roosevelt by John Singer Sargent White House Historical Association

Theodore Roosevelt was an avid nature enthusiast with a keen interest in bird life. As a child, he devoured natural history books and even set out to create his own household natural history museum. By the age of 14, he was an accomplished taxidermist; two taxidermied birds are in the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace archives, and a snowy owl he prepared as a boy entered the collections at the American Museum of Natural History in New York when he gifted it in 1911.

While serving as president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt frequently spent time outdoors hiking and horseback riding, including in Rock Creek Park. In addition to doing all this strenuous activity amid his busy official schedule, Roosevelt took notice of the bird life around him.

In 1908, Lucy Maynard was updating her book "Birds of Washington and Vicinity" and Roosevelt sought to help out by providing a list of 93 birds he had personally seen in Washington, DC, during his presidential years. His handwritten note appears to have been recorded directly from memory. TR included notes on which species he had seen at the White House, and even those he had noticed nesting on the White House grounds.

Roosevelt himself admitted at the end of the list, "Doubless this list is incomplete; I have seen others that I have forgotten." Indeed, Roosevelt glaringly omitted any form of waterfowl, gulls, or shorebirds from his list, as well as a number of common raptors. Avid birders can appreciate, though, that TR probably recalled every warbler he saw, and made sure they were on the list!

During his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt protected approximately 230 million acres of public land, including 51 federal bird refuges, the first of their kind. These actions played an important role in protecting species from overhunting and the possibility of extinction.

The list of birds Theodore Roosevelt gave to Lucy Maynard is compiled below for you to explore. To view the list written in his own hand, see "Birds seen in the White House grounds and about Washington."

What birds have you seen in Washington, DC? Or in your neighborhood? Who would you share your bird list with?

List of birds Theodore Roosevelt recorded in Washington, DC

By default, the list is sorted in the order that Roosevelt wrote them down, but you may sort them by any of the headers. In places where Roosevelt used a quotation mark to refer to text above on his list, the appropriate word or phrase has been entered in brackets [like so].

Reading the list in the original order reveals something of how Theodore Roosevelt's memory worked when recalling the birds. How would you organize your list?

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Now it's your turn!

Ready to tap your inner Theodore Roosevelt and identify Washington, DC, birds? Grab your binoculars and see what you can find. Check the lists below for birds the National Park Service has recorded in Washington, DC, national parks. If you're new to birding, try our Birding for Beginners guide to learn more about how to notice, identify and enjoy birds wherever you are!

Bird checklist

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Definitions

Occurrence

Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.

Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.

Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.

Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.

Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.

Occurrence Tags

Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.

False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.

Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.

Abundance

Abundant:

Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.

• Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.

Common:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
• Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.

Uncommon:

• Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
• Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.

Rare:

• Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
• Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.

Occasional:

• Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
• Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).

Unknown: Abundance unknown

Nativeness

Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.

Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.

Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.

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List Differences

The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.

The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.

The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.

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National Capital Parks-East
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Rock Creek Park
The White House and President's Park

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Species attribute definitions

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Where this belongs

• National Mall and Memorial Parks
• Rock Creek Park
• The White House and President's Park

Where this page came from

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