The History of Ornithology in Virginia

Host to a large and diverse bird population as well as a longhuman history, Virginia is arguably the birthplace of ornithology in North America.David W. Johnston's History of Ornithology in Virginia, the result of over a decadeof research, is the first book to address this fascinating element of the state'snatural history. Tertiary-era fossils show that birds inhabitedVirginia as early as 65 million years ago. Their first human observers were theregion's many Indian tribes and, later, colonists on Roanoke Island and inJamestown. Explorers pushing westward contributed further to the development of aconception of birds that was distinctivelyAmerican. Bythe 1900s planter-farmers, naturalists, and government employees had amassed birdrecords from the Barrier Islands and the Dismal Swamp to the Blue Ridge andAppalachian Mountains. The modern era saw the emergence of ornithologicalorganizations and game laws, as well as increasingly advanced studies of birddistribution, migration pathways, and breeding biology. Johnston shows us howornithology in Virginia evolved from observations of wondrous creatures to asophisticated science recognizing some 435 avian species.