Roger Tory Peterson, the man credited with changing the way people study the natural world with his “A Field Guide to the Birds”, would have been 100 years old next month. There’s a story about him in the current issue of Audubon. After the break, find an old TJN story about the role Croton Point played in the development of possibly the best known birding book.

Thursday, August 8, 1996

City:
State:
Section:
Page: 11, 11
From:
Source:
Edition:
Publication: GW

Staff writer Tom Andersen
Peterson’s book born in Croton Point

Finding a person interested in the natural world who does not have at least one of Roger Tory Peterson’s field guides is about as easy as finding a snowy owl in August.

Peterson, who died July 28 at his home in Old Lyme, Conn., at age 87, was the editor of 47 nature guides in the series that bore his name.

He wrote and illustrated seven of the guides himself, including his signature book, “ A Field Guide to the Birds, ‘’ which was first published in 1934.

The bird book is credited with revolutionizing and democratizing nature study, helping millions of people to begin to understand the natural world. It has been published in four editions and sold more than 4 million copies.

Before it was published, birdwatchers had no simple, quick reference. Birdwatching, in fact, was not far removed from the days when the only sure means of identification was to shoot the bird and examine the carcass.

Peterson and his generation, though, preferred to keep the birds alive. Hence, “ A Field Guide to the Birds ‘’ was conceived – at Croton Point.

On a gray morning in December 1930, Peterson and a friend named William Vogt were at the point to look for canvasback ducks. Vogt’s recollection of that day is quoted in a 1977 biography, “ The World of Roger Tory Peterson. ‘’

After viewing the ducks, Vogt recalled, he heard a sound from a flock of birds in a tree above them. To Vogt, it was barely perceptible. To Peterson, though, the sound was easily identifiable.

“ My companion said with unchallengeable assurance, `Siskins,’ ‘’ Vogt recalled. “ Roger possessed a prodigious keenness of sight and hearing, and on the particular December morning I was again impressed by his expertness. . . . `Roger,’ I said to him, `You know more about identifying the birds of this region than almost anyone else, and you can paint. Why don’t you pass on your knowledge to other people in a book?’

“ I was more excited about the possibility than he, but we discussed it through the milelong walk back to the car, along the inshore marshes. ‘’

The book’s success made Peterson an icon. Tom Burke, a birdwatcher from Rye, remembered traveling to Nantucket in 1983 to see a rare bird from Africa – a western reef heron. Peterson showed up, too.

“ He was besieged when he was there, ‘’ Burke said. “ He was signing autographs for everybody. Finally, he just retreated to the garage. ‘’

Burke said he counted 27 telescopes lined up to watch the heron. All were unoccupied. “ Everybody was looking at Roger, ‘’ he said.

Les Line, a former Dobbs Ferry resident and longtime friend of Peterson’s, said Peterson was unaffected by his celebrity but also was competitive about his success.

“ He was always checking when he was out in the field to see whose field guides people were using, ‘’ said Line, a former editor of Audubon magazine.

He added, “ One thing Roger always complained to me about was that he never had time to do serious painting. He considered the field guides the equivalent of prison. They tied him down to his studio, and he really did not want to be known as an illustrator of what he called decoy-like paintings. ‘’

Peterson, said Line, was a prisoner of his own success, but the incarceration was not completely unwilling. When he died, he was working on a fifth edition of “ A Field Guide to the Birds ‘’ – the book conceived at Croton Point.