Birds Through the Opera Glass

The first-ever field guide to American birds, Florence A. Merriam's classic Birds Through an Opera-Glass remains a highly influential book for modern birdwatching more than 130 years since its initial release. Birds Through an Opera-Glass is Florence A. Merriam's pioneering field guide to American birds. The first-ever of its kind, originally published in 1889, it laid the foundation for modern birdwatching. Before Birds Through an Opera-Glass, it was commonplace to shoot birds and study their lifeless bodies. Merriam instead advocated studying birds in the wild--through an opera glass rather than a riflescope--to ensure their preservation. With line drawings and detailed descriptions of seventy common species, Birds Through an Opera-Glass remains a favorite of birders, nature lovers, and conservationists to this day. As the first female member of the American Ornithologists' Union, Merriam was a trailblazer in the emerging field of birding in the latter half of the nineteenth century.