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Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birder
At sixteen, Kenn Kaufman dropped out of the high school where he was student council president and hit the road, hitching back and forth across America, from Alaska to Florida, Maine to Mexico. Maybe not all that unusual a thing to do in the seventies, but what Kenn was searching for was a little different: not sex, drugs, God, or even self, but birds. A report of a rare bird would send him hitching nonstop from Pacific to Atlantic and back again. When he was broke he would pick fruit or do odd jobs to earn the fifty dollars or so that would last him for weeks. His goal was to set a record - most North American species seen in a year - but along the way he began to realize that at this breakneck pace he was only looking, not seeing. What had been a game became a quest for a deeper understanding of the natural world. Kingbird Highway is a unique coming-of-age story, combining a lyrical celebration of nature with wild, and sometimes dangerous, adventures, starring a colorful cast of characters.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
About the author
Kenn Kaufman
47 books86 followersKenn Kaufman (born 1954) is an American author, artist, naturalist, and conservationist, with a particular focus on birds.
Born in South Bend, Indiana, Kaufman started birding at the age of six. When he was nine, his family moved to Wichita, Kansas, where his fascination with birds intensified. At age sixteen, inspired by birding pioneers such as Roger Tory Peterson, he dropped out of high school and spent several years hitchhiking around North America in pursuit of birds. This adventure eventually was recorded in a memoir, Kingbird Highway.
Thereafter he spent several years as a professional leader of nature tours, taking groups of birders to all seven continents. In 1984 he began working as an editor and consultant on birds for the National Audubon Society, a connection that continues to this day. Gradually he transitioned from tour leading to a full-time focus on writing, editing, and illustrating, always on nature subjects. His first major book, the Peterson Field Guide to Advanced Birding, was published in 1990. This was followed by another dozen books, including seven titles in his own series of Kaufman Field Guides. His next book, The Birds That Audubon Missed, is scheduled for publication in May 2024.
Currently, Kaufman devotes most of his time to writing books and painting bird portraits. His paintings have been juried into several prestigious exhibitions. He is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society, a recipient of the Eisenmann Medal from the Linnaean Society of New York, and the only person to have received the American Birding Association's lifetime achievement award twice.
Kaufman resides in Oak Harbor, Ohio with his wife, Kimberly Kaufman, also a dedicated naturalist. Kenn and Kimberly mostly work on separate projects, but they collaborate as the "birding experts" for the popular Birds & Blooms Magazine.
Born in South Bend, Indiana, Kaufman started birding at the age of six. When he was nine, his family moved to Wichita, Kansas, where his fascination with birds intensified. At age sixteen, inspired by birding pioneers such as Roger Tory Peterson, he dropped out of high school and spent several years hitchhiking around North America in pursuit of birds. This adventure eventually was recorded in a memoir, Kingbird Highway.
Thereafter he spent several years as a professional leader of nature tours, taking groups of birders to all seven continents. In 1984 he began working as an editor and consultant on birds for the National Audubon Society, a connection that continues to this day. Gradually he transitioned from tour leading to a full-time focus on writing, editing, and illustrating, always on nature subjects. His first major book, the Peterson Field Guide to Advanced Birding, was published in 1990. This was followed by another dozen books, including seven titles in his own series of Kaufman Field Guides. His next book, The Birds That Audubon Missed, is scheduled for publication in May 2024.
Currently, Kaufman devotes most of his time to writing books and painting bird portraits. His paintings have been juried into several prestigious exhibitions. He is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society, a recipient of the Eisenmann Medal from the Linnaean Society of New York, and the only person to have received the American Birding Association's lifetime achievement award twice.
Kaufman resides in Oak Harbor, Ohio with his wife, Kimberly Kaufman, also a dedicated naturalist. Kenn and Kimberly mostly work on separate projects, but they collaborate as the "birding experts" for the popular Birds & Blooms Magazine.
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July 15, 2010To prepare for my upcoming trip to Ecuador I visited a doctor to update my inoculations. I explained that I was going to South America to look for birds, he mentioned he "thought that pastime had died out." I asked him where he’d been the last twenty years. That’s when he pulled out the syringe and asked me to roll up my sleeve…in hindsight, I could have been more polite.
What I should have said was, "The public library has many fine books regarding the deadly serious and ever-growing lifestyle that is BIRDING." There’s still hope for the rest of you though! In order to better understand these people (of which I am one), you should start with the mother of all bird-obsessed travelogues: Kenn Kaufman’s Kingbird Highway. Kenn (he’s so extreme he needs two "n"s) takes off on a road trip to try to set a new record for seeing the most birds in North America in a year. The twist (do you need one?)? He’s gonna hitch. As in, hitchhike. Also he’s broke. As in, he eats canned dog food at one point. This is one determined birder who will let nothing get between him and that new "year bird". Along the way the reader is also given some great background on the "hobby" and our natural world. --Jason
From ICPL Staff Picks Blog
What I should have said was, "The public library has many fine books regarding the deadly serious and ever-growing lifestyle that is BIRDING." There’s still hope for the rest of you though! In order to better understand these people (of which I am one), you should start with the mother of all bird-obsessed travelogues: Kenn Kaufman’s Kingbird Highway. Kenn (he’s so extreme he needs two "n"s) takes off on a road trip to try to set a new record for seeing the most birds in North America in a year. The twist (do you need one?)? He’s gonna hitch. As in, hitchhike. Also he’s broke. As in, he eats canned dog food at one point. This is one determined birder who will let nothing get between him and that new "year bird". Along the way the reader is also given some great background on the "hobby" and our natural world. --Jason
From ICPL Staff Picks Blog
November 5, 2015
It's hard to imagine..but in the 1970's with the support of his parents, Ken Kaufman at the age of 16 dropped out of highschool and hit the road. Sleeping in fields and underpasses, living off of crackers, coffee, and even cat food (it's cheap), and hitchhiking everywhere in the US and Mexico--Kenn was not searching for love or following the Grateful Dead--No Ken wanted to see every rare bird in the US.
In 1973 with just a sleeping bag and yellow painted binoculars Kenn began his own "Big Year" attempting to set the record for most birds seen in one calendar year. He went to dumps, oceans, found a girl-friend, slept in parking lots, bummed coffee anywhere he could..and in the end was remarkably focused and devoted to his birding. He could hitchhike from Oregon to Florida in a few days to just to spot a Cape Sable Sparrow. He believed a bird heard was a bird seen.
Ken spotted 667 species in 1973. He lost to Floyd Murdoch who spotted 669 species. But many now argue about the validity of these numbers as in the 1970's there was "lumping" of species and then in the 1980's there was "splitting" of species. I don't think Kenn would care anymore. Near the end of the Big Year he grew tired of listing (tagging a bird quickly and moving on)..and grew more into a devoted naturalist..wanting to appreciate every bird for what it was. In 1979 a Missisipi Businessman with lots of money (an admitted amateur) hired experrs and tagged 699 species. Of course now the numbers are in the high 700's.
Ken I believe has one record that will forever stand: "birds per buck." His total living expenses for his 1973 big year were $1000. Over half of that was spent on pelagic flights to Alaska. He usually lived off of 1 dollar per day.
5 stars. I don't think people like Ken exist anymore..a kind of Chris McCandless (Into the Wild) of Birding. I was also not aware of what a hot bed the SW (Texas, NM, and Arizona) is for birding.
As with other birding books--I have my binoculars pointed at the birders (they are much more interesting) than the birds. But I appreciate birding (is it a sport or hobby?)..as it encourages travel, being outside, appreciating nature all without a screen.
In 1973 with just a sleeping bag and yellow painted binoculars Kenn began his own "Big Year" attempting to set the record for most birds seen in one calendar year. He went to dumps, oceans, found a girl-friend, slept in parking lots, bummed coffee anywhere he could..and in the end was remarkably focused and devoted to his birding. He could hitchhike from Oregon to Florida in a few days to just to spot a Cape Sable Sparrow. He believed a bird heard was a bird seen.
Ken spotted 667 species in 1973. He lost to Floyd Murdoch who spotted 669 species. But many now argue about the validity of these numbers as in the 1970's there was "lumping" of species and then in the 1980's there was "splitting" of species. I don't think Kenn would care anymore. Near the end of the Big Year he grew tired of listing (tagging a bird quickly and moving on)..and grew more into a devoted naturalist..wanting to appreciate every bird for what it was. In 1979 a Missisipi Businessman with lots of money (an admitted amateur) hired experrs and tagged 699 species. Of course now the numbers are in the high 700's.
Ken I believe has one record that will forever stand: "birds per buck." His total living expenses for his 1973 big year were $1000. Over half of that was spent on pelagic flights to Alaska. He usually lived off of 1 dollar per day.
5 stars. I don't think people like Ken exist anymore..a kind of Chris McCandless (Into the Wild) of Birding. I was also not aware of what a hot bed the SW (Texas, NM, and Arizona) is for birding.
As with other birding books--I have my binoculars pointed at the birders (they are much more interesting) than the birds. But I appreciate birding (is it a sport or hobby?)..as it encourages travel, being outside, appreciating nature all without a screen.
June 12, 2020
I'd probably have liked it more if it were the first book on the subject I'd read. Or if I were a competitive birder myself. But after reading Big Twitch and The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession (and I think one other but I can't remember enough of it to search for it) I've had enough.
At least Kenn hitched and mooched, and actually watches the birds when he gets a chance - the others spend so much money, leave such a huge carbon footprint, and don't seem to care about the birds at all. Nowadays (apparently) there's so much instant communication, apps on smart-phones, etc., that all birders need to do is follow directions - Kenn did need to know something about likely habitat, time of day, songs and calls, etc. for himself. Or at least his companions did - apparently Ted Parker was brilliant at the gestalt. (Was - died at age 40 back in '93, so, didn't see how much technology has made his kind of birding obsolete....)
Tbh, I haven't yet finished this. I came here to check other reviews to see if I should. I've decided to sit down one more time with it, but if it doesn't get more thoughtful, richer, then this review will stand exactly as so.
*******************
It did get better, after the first third or so. Kenn gradually came to realize, as he grew up & matured, that birding is more than a checklist, and life is more than birding. The afterword is interesting, too. If you're only going to read one book in your life about Big Years or competitive birding, I believe I do recommend this.
Btw, I did a little googling, and I found that some effort is being made to be more green - some listers go after 'most birds to be ID'd in a year traveling by bicycle.' So that's cool.
Some bookdarts:
"You had to make the effort to have the luck."
"'You can always take Spanish again next year, but the gnatcatchers won't wait.'"
re' Fort Robinson: "The whole thing might have been erected by a demented billionaire -- which it was, I reflected, since it had been built by the U.S. government." (he goes on to explain the particular folly).
"As a crass young bird-lister, I might have said: a trip to the Tortugas is good, because it adds species to the total. But a better viewpoint would be: working on a list is good, because it gives me an excuse to come to the Tortugas."
(at that point I realized how much competitive birding resembles geocaching, at least in how some cachers play that game)
So anyway, yes, I'm glad I finished. And now I do think that I'm done with books about twitchers, if not books about birdwatchers (ie The Armchair Birder: Discovering the Secret Lives of Familiar Birds).
June 8, 2010
I had the same problem with this book that I have had with others by "power birders". Kaufman and his friends just strike me as too arrogant and self-absorbed. And here, the ugly side of birding--the competition to merely check off birds and move on-- takes on a life of its own. I had incredible difficulty believing that an 18 year old with 20 dollar binoculars could hitchhike across the country, flawlessly identifying hundreds of species on first contact and in so doing finding over a dozen rarities missed by seasoned pros. Kaufman is definitely a top birder today, but this early reminiscence (~1974) reads a little too good to be true.
April 8, 2021
I can't believe I hadn't read Kenn's book before now, but for some reason I had not. That's okay, though, because I can't imagine I would have enjoyed the book quite as much as I did had I read it earlier in my birding and professional ornithology career. The people, the places, the experiences, and the birds and Kenn's words all combine to make this book an absolute MUST READ for birders of any age. The current crop of young birders might cringe when they read some of the details of Kenn's no-frills birding adventure when he was just a teenager in the early 70's, but they will be inspired just like this old guy was!
This book certainly deserves to be the classic that it already is...and that it always will be!
This book certainly deserves to be the classic that it already is...and that it always will be!
May 2, 2024
Kenn Kaufman left high school before he finished to make his own way in the world by exploring nature and the world via hitchhiking. He sets out to break a record for the most birds seen in the US in a year, and he ends up realizing that what he really wants to do is study birds.
Kingbird Highway is Kaufman's story of his Big Year, his adventures on the road, and his encounters with birds, many of them for the first time.
Kingbird Highway is Kaufman's story of his Big Year, his adventures on the road, and his encounters with birds, many of them for the first time.
November 27, 2021
I loved everything about this. Kenn Kaufman is one of my birding heroes. I didn't want to this book to ever end, which is one reason why I dragged it out so long. The other reason being my small human that is now mobile and needs constant supervision.
The ABA big year is the goal, dream, fantasy for many North American birders. Mine won't be able to happen for decades so it was fun to live vicariously through one of the greatest American birders of all time. His story is one that is so incredible to me. I love that at a young age he felt so compelled to seek out birds that he dropped out of school and did just that. Jack Kerouac meets Roger Tory Peterson. His burning desire to get out into nature and experience it is a true call of the wild. The same passion draws me into new places all the time so I can relate. Birds. Birds bring me to some of the most beautiful places that I have ever been. Ok, so I am an admitted lister and that was the other part of the book that hit home with me.
A love of the natural world is lifetime passion for many people. This can be slightly different for many people who might gravitate towards mammals or insects. My father loves plants and trees. But for me and Kenn Kaufman, it is and always will be, birds.
The ABA big year is the goal, dream, fantasy for many North American birders. Mine won't be able to happen for decades so it was fun to live vicariously through one of the greatest American birders of all time. His story is one that is so incredible to me. I love that at a young age he felt so compelled to seek out birds that he dropped out of school and did just that. Jack Kerouac meets Roger Tory Peterson. His burning desire to get out into nature and experience it is a true call of the wild. The same passion draws me into new places all the time so I can relate. Birds. Birds bring me to some of the most beautiful places that I have ever been. Ok, so I am an admitted lister and that was the other part of the book that hit home with me.
A love of the natural world is lifetime passion for many people. This can be slightly different for many people who might gravitate towards mammals or insects. My father loves plants and trees. But for me and Kenn Kaufman, it is and always will be, birds.
March 8, 2011
Confession: I'm a birder and birdwatcher myself. I usually find watching birds much more interesting than reading stories about other people's birdwatching adventures. But Kenn Kaufman changed that for me.
Kaufman dropped out of high school at 16 to hitchhike around the country in pursuit of birds. In 1973 he decided to do a "Big Year," seeing as many North American species as he could. He did so on less than $1,000 ... and yet was one of the year's top two listers, however you do the math.
This book is a well-written narrative about a journey and the lessons learned along the way. It is the old, old story of a boy becoming a man, told in a fresh setting — chasing birds across 1970s America.
I grew to admire Kaufman deeply in these pages. Whereas I bird on weekends, he gave this passion everything he had. His quest to break the listing record for a year was epic, all-encompassing, like the quest for the holy grail. You have to respect an obsession that powerful. Plus, Kaufman writes about birds with practiced skill, sketching in few words those aspects of form and behavior that entranced him most.
As much as I enjoyed learning about the birds of North America and Kaufman's experiences in these pages, I appreciated the insights into his personal journey even more. Although he wrote the first draft in 1974 and 1975, he finished the book two decades after the year it records. From the vantage point of age, he knew how the seeds planted in the stories he records would grow, mature, and in some cases, pass away. He shares some of that knowledge with readers. These are small parts of the story, but as a reader who had come to care about the writer and his friends, for me they created a satisfying narrative arc and added emotional richness to the standard tale of a boy on the road to adulthood.
Kaufman dropped out of high school at 16 to hitchhike around the country in pursuit of birds. In 1973 he decided to do a "Big Year," seeing as many North American species as he could. He did so on less than $1,000 ... and yet was one of the year's top two listers, however you do the math.
This book is a well-written narrative about a journey and the lessons learned along the way. It is the old, old story of a boy becoming a man, told in a fresh setting — chasing birds across 1970s America.
I grew to admire Kaufman deeply in these pages. Whereas I bird on weekends, he gave this passion everything he had. His quest to break the listing record for a year was epic, all-encompassing, like the quest for the holy grail. You have to respect an obsession that powerful. Plus, Kaufman writes about birds with practiced skill, sketching in few words those aspects of form and behavior that entranced him most.
As much as I enjoyed learning about the birds of North America and Kaufman's experiences in these pages, I appreciated the insights into his personal journey even more. Although he wrote the first draft in 1974 and 1975, he finished the book two decades after the year it records. From the vantage point of age, he knew how the seeds planted in the stories he records would grow, mature, and in some cases, pass away. He shares some of that knowledge with readers. These are small parts of the story, but as a reader who had come to care about the writer and his friends, for me they created a satisfying narrative arc and added emotional richness to the standard tale of a boy on the road to adulthood.
February 22, 2024
Drove me crazy bonkers up the wall to read this while couch bound
May 2, 2020
If you can get past the idea that a 16 year old kid drops out of school and hitchhiked to look at birds this book will be a great escape. The ending was a little frustrating but the whole time the author treated the reader as someone who knew about birds. It made me feel cool.
August 14, 2011
Extreme Birding! XTREME!
This is a book about hoe Kenn Kaufman spent 1973 hitchhiking North America to see the most species of birds he could see in one year. He was nineteen.
Okay, so probably not the best writing in the world, but I did not fall asleep (I am looking at you, For Whom the Bell Tolls). He had a lot of magical adventures that year all driven by this Big Year List. It makes me want to have a quest so that I can have some adventures. By the end of the year he gets tired of Listing but is happy that he his quest has brought him to so many places.
Kenn Kaufman left high school when he was sixteen to start hitchhiking for birds. And his parents were cool with it, and he hung out and impressed really big bird experts like Roger Tory Peterson, and he learned so much about birds and about how to learn about birds (ie not listing), and now he is himself a big name birder/bird expert. Yeah for autodidacts.
I wonder how non-birders would react to this book, I kind of assume they would be bored, not even that I am a huge birder or anything, but if you have never looked through binocs at a bird, I dont know...a lot of it is name-dropping, but luckily there is a thoughfulness that comes in at the end when he becomes less enamored with listing and there are a few profoundly beautiful experiences to read about in there, not to mention informative encounters with the need for bird and bird habitat conservation.
This is a book about hoe Kenn Kaufman spent 1973 hitchhiking North America to see the most species of birds he could see in one year. He was nineteen.
Okay, so probably not the best writing in the world, but I did not fall asleep (I am looking at you, For Whom the Bell Tolls). He had a lot of magical adventures that year all driven by this Big Year List. It makes me want to have a quest so that I can have some adventures. By the end of the year he gets tired of Listing but is happy that he his quest has brought him to so many places.
Kenn Kaufman left high school when he was sixteen to start hitchhiking for birds. And his parents were cool with it, and he hung out and impressed really big bird experts like Roger Tory Peterson, and he learned so much about birds and about how to learn about birds (ie not listing), and now he is himself a big name birder/bird expert. Yeah for autodidacts.
I wonder how non-birders would react to this book, I kind of assume they would be bored, not even that I am a huge birder or anything, but if you have never looked through binocs at a bird, I dont know...a lot of it is name-dropping, but luckily there is a thoughfulness that comes in at the end when he becomes less enamored with listing and there are a few profoundly beautiful experiences to read about in there, not to mention informative encounters with the need for bird and bird habitat conservation.
January 7, 2017
Kaufman does an outstanding job in describing his birding experiences. Never once was I bored or annoyed by the story, although at times the road trips were slightly dreary. I love how he focuses on the birds, and not the list-chasing game of a Big Year. He enjoys the birds for what they are, and recounts breath-taking experiences from his birding year in 1973. You do get a feel for some competition, but I think Kaufman mainly goes through where he birded, what he enjoyed, and memorable, powerful experiences. I think it would be rather stressful to hitchhike across the nation non-stop for an entire year, but I guess that's what passion does to you. Kaufman is certainly an example of extreme birding passion, and I hope he continues to bird today. I hope to follow his passion (as the birding geek that I am) and get involved with more birders in the rest of my lifetime. This book inspires me more than I already was, and I hope to continue to bird and enjoy! I feel that understanding, watching, and enjoying the birds is far more important than list-chasing. I recommend to any who are into birding, and who would like to learn from the intense birding experiences of others.
May 13, 2015
hard book to gauge because of the obsessive nature of the content. informative if you don't know anything about birds (i don't) but not very revelatory on anything else. less a memoir than a travel journal. kaufman is a decent writer, but there's so little emotion involved in the story it's hard to care about any of it. most chapters are interchangeable. "i went here and saw these birds then i went there and saw these birds then i ran into this person and they told me about the birds they saw then it rained." for a book with the word 'obsessive' on its cover there was very little psychological or ponderous about it. kaufman writes as a literate ornithologist but not much more. his vision of his teenage self isn't much more than a zombie-like addict just doing one thing over and over all the time and completely whiffing at all the important stuff along the way. birders I'm sure enjoy it, hence the good rating. general public better have a pretty good attention span and not a lot of expectations.
April 28, 2018
If you know me, you know that I love birding. I love that it gets me outside. I love that it makes me more aware of the Creation that surrounds me. I love that I listen a little more and look a little bit closer. I love the ritual of keeping list after list of all the species I see. I love sharing adventures with other birders.
Kaufman is a terrific story teller. I was drawn in by a shared interest of birding but his nuggets of wisdom about life were what I’ll carry with me. If you’re a birder, you gotta read this. If you’re not, read it for a quality coming of age story. Read it to learn to appreciate the journey. Read it to learn that when something’s feels right, go for it. When your friend says he’s going to Mexico to see an Eared Trogon, you forget about your checklist and you go. Live in the moment but never skip a chance to think beyond yourself
“Return address? I had none. As far as postal service was concerned, I might as well have been in outer space. But this place demanded something.”
Kaufman is a terrific story teller. I was drawn in by a shared interest of birding but his nuggets of wisdom about life were what I’ll carry with me. If you’re a birder, you gotta read this. If you’re not, read it for a quality coming of age story. Read it to learn to appreciate the journey. Read it to learn that when something’s feels right, go for it. When your friend says he’s going to Mexico to see an Eared Trogon, you forget about your checklist and you go. Live in the moment but never skip a chance to think beyond yourself
“Return address? I had none. As far as postal service was concerned, I might as well have been in outer space. But this place demanded something.”
March 7, 2021
An engaging story, and an interesting way to learn some "bird basics" to boot. It took me a while to finish the book since I would go online to check out some of the birds discussed. Still, it was a fun book for me, and I wasn't in any hurry. However, in my opinion, the ending is a weakness. After following the author's original goal for the entire book, it would seem important to do a wrap-up related to that original goal. If you keep reading past the main story, you will find it in the Appendix. I understand the point the author was trying to make about appreciating birds in all ways, but still, after following the journey for more than 300 pages, it would be nice to have a more complete conclusion in the main story --without having to search for it and luckily reading the Afterword and continuing on to the Appendix in search of some closure on this aspect of the journey. Would I recommend this book? Yes, but keep reading after the end of the main story!
May 26, 2018
I enjoyed this far more than I expected to. Although the subject matter wasn't inherently interesting to me, the book was very readable and set up an easy-to-follow plot arc: After spending a couple years hitchhiking around the country to see different bird species, Kaufman decided to undertake a Big Year, trying to see more bird species in a single year than any other birder had before. My eyes tended to skim over the specific bird names, but I could easily follow along with whatever Kaufman's current leg of his journey entailed, whether it was undertaking a Big Day attempt with several other high-profile birders, or attempting to hitchhike from Arizona to New England to see a specific rare bird species.
What made this book most valuable, and why I suspect it's gained readers outside the birding community, was Kaufman's larger reflections on the purpose of his journey. For example, "As a crass young bird-lister, I might have said: a trip to the Tortugas is good, because it adds species to the total. But a better viewpoint would be: working on a list is good, because it gives me an excuse to come to the Tortugas." He notes that by the end of the year, he didn't care that much whether his total was higher than the other birder working on a Big Year — someone else would eventually pass them up, and the more important thing was the experiences he had had during that year. At times he steps outside himself to laugh at the absurdity of hitchhiking in the pouring rain just to get halfway across the country and see a single bird, and he wonders whether his goal is worth it. But as he sets out at the very beginning of the book, he's always cared more about the journey than the destination, and it's clear that he's able to keep that in mind all throughout the year.
The passages about listing made me reflect on my own desire to set reading goals and cross off books on pre-set reading lists. Most of the time, I enjoy the journey — the opportunity to read lots of great books, to be enveloped by their stories and/or learn from them. But at times, like when I'm dragging through a painfully long passage in a "classic" book, I wonder why I'm doing it. In Kaufman's thoughts on birding, I saw my own experiences of reading reflected back.
The book certainly gave me a greater appreciation for the diversity of bird species that exist in North America and beyond, though I don't necessarily have any more interest than before in learning about the specific markings or calls of individual bird species. Most people know certainly types of birds, like penguins, flamingos, owls, eagles, etc. But there are hundreds of species for which we'd only say, "That's a bird." I was astounded by the depth of knowledge that Kaufman, as a 19-year-old kid, had absorbed, so that he could tell literally hundreds of species apart at first sight or sound, not even getting into the level of detail that someone like Harold Axtell could provide about flight patterns and nesting behavior. As I said, I'm not interested in devoting myself to that area of knowledge personally, but I think it would be fascinating to spend a day with someone who could tell apart all the different bird species we encountered.
Although Kaufman's writing was easy to read and his travels and day-to-day goals easy to follow, there were parts of the book that felt missing. For example, he tells a story of getting a ride from a woman named Diana who takes him to see some crows at a dump, and she hints strongly that she's romantically interested in him. And then the chapter just ends and we never hear about her again. We hear about another birder's expensive telescope that he's given responsibility for and loses, and we never find out how he explained the loss, if he repaid it, etc. Heck, it's not even until the appendix, which is after the afterword, that he tells us the conclusion of the Big Year contest that was driving the entire book. These gaps in information and pacing were strange and frustrated me as a reader.
Personally, I would have liked to know more about the logistics of Kaufman's tracking system. Presumably he had to take notes about where and when he found each bird so it could be verified, but then I would assume he also had to have a checklist of all possible species so he wasn't double-counting them. And when he participated in a Big Day attempt or a Christmas Day Count, did he start a blank list and then go back to fill in the new birds to his Big Year list later? Additionally, while he occasionally mentioned having to stop to spend a few days working, and how he lost a lot of weight from not eating enough, he otherwise mentioned very little about how he supported himself on the road. When he got together with other birders and they went out to eat, did everyone cover his meals because he was young and poor? These probably seem like small details, but I wasted a lot of time wondering about his tracking system, the rules for how his finds were legitimized, and how he was surviving.
All in all, I found this a far more fascinating and valuable read than I had imagined, and I would definitely recommend it, whether you're interested in birds, travel, or just the philosophy of competition and life purpose.
What made this book most valuable, and why I suspect it's gained readers outside the birding community, was Kaufman's larger reflections on the purpose of his journey. For example, "As a crass young bird-lister, I might have said: a trip to the Tortugas is good, because it adds species to the total. But a better viewpoint would be: working on a list is good, because it gives me an excuse to come to the Tortugas." He notes that by the end of the year, he didn't care that much whether his total was higher than the other birder working on a Big Year — someone else would eventually pass them up, and the more important thing was the experiences he had had during that year. At times he steps outside himself to laugh at the absurdity of hitchhiking in the pouring rain just to get halfway across the country and see a single bird, and he wonders whether his goal is worth it. But as he sets out at the very beginning of the book, he's always cared more about the journey than the destination, and it's clear that he's able to keep that in mind all throughout the year.
The passages about listing made me reflect on my own desire to set reading goals and cross off books on pre-set reading lists. Most of the time, I enjoy the journey — the opportunity to read lots of great books, to be enveloped by their stories and/or learn from them. But at times, like when I'm dragging through a painfully long passage in a "classic" book, I wonder why I'm doing it. In Kaufman's thoughts on birding, I saw my own experiences of reading reflected back.
The book certainly gave me a greater appreciation for the diversity of bird species that exist in North America and beyond, though I don't necessarily have any more interest than before in learning about the specific markings or calls of individual bird species. Most people know certainly types of birds, like penguins, flamingos, owls, eagles, etc. But there are hundreds of species for which we'd only say, "That's a bird." I was astounded by the depth of knowledge that Kaufman, as a 19-year-old kid, had absorbed, so that he could tell literally hundreds of species apart at first sight or sound, not even getting into the level of detail that someone like Harold Axtell could provide about flight patterns and nesting behavior. As I said, I'm not interested in devoting myself to that area of knowledge personally, but I think it would be fascinating to spend a day with someone who could tell apart all the different bird species we encountered.
Although Kaufman's writing was easy to read and his travels and day-to-day goals easy to follow, there were parts of the book that felt missing. For example, he tells a story of getting a ride from a woman named Diana who takes him to see some crows at a dump, and she hints strongly that she's romantically interested in him. And then the chapter just ends and we never hear about her again. We hear about another birder's expensive telescope that he's given responsibility for and loses, and we never find out how he explained the loss, if he repaid it, etc. Heck, it's not even until the appendix, which is after the afterword, that he tells us the conclusion of the Big Year contest that was driving the entire book. These gaps in information and pacing were strange and frustrated me as a reader.
Personally, I would have liked to know more about the logistics of Kaufman's tracking system. Presumably he had to take notes about where and when he found each bird so it could be verified, but then I would assume he also had to have a checklist of all possible species so he wasn't double-counting them. And when he participated in a Big Day attempt or a Christmas Day Count, did he start a blank list and then go back to fill in the new birds to his Big Year list later? Additionally, while he occasionally mentioned having to stop to spend a few days working, and how he lost a lot of weight from not eating enough, he otherwise mentioned very little about how he supported himself on the road. When he got together with other birders and they went out to eat, did everyone cover his meals because he was young and poor? These probably seem like small details, but I wasted a lot of time wondering about his tracking system, the rules for how his finds were legitimized, and how he was surviving.
All in all, I found this a far more fascinating and valuable read than I had imagined, and I would definitely recommend it, whether you're interested in birds, travel, or just the philosophy of competition and life purpose.
April 8, 2021
I think that Strycker's big year bird list book, "Birding Without Borders," is much more interesting for a general reader, since Strycker interleaves vignettes from his trip with information about birds and birding. Kaufman's book is focused on the trip, except for a bit of romance and youthful angst. You can't help but learn something about birds and birding, and it is hard to resist looking up the species to learn more, but that's not a big focus. It is also an impressive story, hitchhiking across the country for a year to find birds. For a birder, at least, this is still a fun read.
> the Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists’ Union. This group publishes the AOU Check-list of North American Birds … We were all happily using the 1957 list, and subconsciously we had come to regard it as permanent. But not anymore. Birders were now talking about the “great April massacre of 1973.” Since we counted only full species in our listing games, the action of the AOU had lowered everyone’s lists.
> The Myrtle Warbler had been lumped with the western Audubon’s Warbler under the uninspiring name of Yellow-rumped Warbler. Baltimore and Bullock’s orioles had been merged into Northern Oriole … Perhaps now the Cape Sable Sparrow would fall from the birders’ field of view and skulk back into the oblivion from which it had arisen in 1918. Whether it would count for my 1973 year list was unclear. The American Birding Association had no rules dealing with taxonomic changes made in midyear.
> Under the classification used then, the world’s total bird list was considered to be 8,600 species, and Stuart Keith had become the first person ever to see 4,300 of those in the wild
> We had scored 203 on that run, the first “official” 200-plus Big Day in Texas. But that was nowhere near the North American record of 227, set by Guy McCaskie’s team in California the year before.
> This phenomenon—of rare birds attracting more birders, who then find more rare birds, attracting more birders, and so on—was soon given a name: “The Patagonia Picnic Table Effect.”
> No prospects. That was true, wasn’t it? I was working so hard on my year list this year, but what was it going to bring me in the real world? Nothing. Even if I won the year-list “contest,” at year’s end I would still be an unemployed high-school dropout with no prospects for the future.
> I had broken the year-list record in late July, and now I was up to 630. Hardly forty species remained that I could reasonably hope to find before the year ended. But the five months ahead might not be enough time to find them all; those forty species were scattered all over the continent, mostly uncommon birds in out-of-the-way places.
> In short, Axtell’s conclusion was that this mystery shorebird, with its blackish feathers, odd-colored legs, and strange behavior, was merely a yellowlegs that had gotten into some oil. Standing there reading and rereading this bombshell, I was in shock. … the general conclusion was that Harold Axtell had been right and that all the dozens of other birders had been wrong. This episode had a profound impact on me—partly because I’d spent five days hitching in the rain, 2,500 miles out of my way.
> birders had accepted the American Ornithologists’ Union definition of “North America” as consisting of Canada, the United States, and three other nearby areas with similar birdlife: Greenland, Bermuda, and the peninsula of Baja California.
> Just because I had broken listing records, they expected me to be a top-notch birder—and I was not. They were comparing me to Ted Parker, who had set the record just two years before—but there was really no comparison.
> The totals amassed by Murdoch and me would be edged out in 1976, as a young ornithology student named Scott Robinson made a low-budget, high-knowledge run around the continent. But that would be the last time that any record could be set by a birder who focused on the normally occurring birds. … Floyd Murdoch won: in the region that would become the official checklist area of the American Birding Association, he tallied 669 species, three more than I. However, many birders in 1973 were still using the old checklist area of the American Ornithologists’ Union, which included Baja California; my five Baja birds brought my list up to 671.
> the Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists’ Union. This group publishes the AOU Check-list of North American Birds … We were all happily using the 1957 list, and subconsciously we had come to regard it as permanent. But not anymore. Birders were now talking about the “great April massacre of 1973.” Since we counted only full species in our listing games, the action of the AOU had lowered everyone’s lists.
> The Myrtle Warbler had been lumped with the western Audubon’s Warbler under the uninspiring name of Yellow-rumped Warbler. Baltimore and Bullock’s orioles had been merged into Northern Oriole … Perhaps now the Cape Sable Sparrow would fall from the birders’ field of view and skulk back into the oblivion from which it had arisen in 1918. Whether it would count for my 1973 year list was unclear. The American Birding Association had no rules dealing with taxonomic changes made in midyear.
> Under the classification used then, the world’s total bird list was considered to be 8,600 species, and Stuart Keith had become the first person ever to see 4,300 of those in the wild
> We had scored 203 on that run, the first “official” 200-plus Big Day in Texas. But that was nowhere near the North American record of 227, set by Guy McCaskie’s team in California the year before.
> This phenomenon—of rare birds attracting more birders, who then find more rare birds, attracting more birders, and so on—was soon given a name: “The Patagonia Picnic Table Effect.”
> No prospects. That was true, wasn’t it? I was working so hard on my year list this year, but what was it going to bring me in the real world? Nothing. Even if I won the year-list “contest,” at year’s end I would still be an unemployed high-school dropout with no prospects for the future.
> I had broken the year-list record in late July, and now I was up to 630. Hardly forty species remained that I could reasonably hope to find before the year ended. But the five months ahead might not be enough time to find them all; those forty species were scattered all over the continent, mostly uncommon birds in out-of-the-way places.
> In short, Axtell’s conclusion was that this mystery shorebird, with its blackish feathers, odd-colored legs, and strange behavior, was merely a yellowlegs that had gotten into some oil. Standing there reading and rereading this bombshell, I was in shock. … the general conclusion was that Harold Axtell had been right and that all the dozens of other birders had been wrong. This episode had a profound impact on me—partly because I’d spent five days hitching in the rain, 2,500 miles out of my way.
> birders had accepted the American Ornithologists’ Union definition of “North America” as consisting of Canada, the United States, and three other nearby areas with similar birdlife: Greenland, Bermuda, and the peninsula of Baja California.
> Just because I had broken listing records, they expected me to be a top-notch birder—and I was not. They were comparing me to Ted Parker, who had set the record just two years before—but there was really no comparison.
> The totals amassed by Murdoch and me would be edged out in 1976, as a young ornithology student named Scott Robinson made a low-budget, high-knowledge run around the continent. But that would be the last time that any record could be set by a birder who focused on the normally occurring birds. … Floyd Murdoch won: in the region that would become the official checklist area of the American Birding Association, he tallied 669 species, three more than I. However, many birders in 1973 were still using the old checklist area of the American Ornithologists’ Union, which included Baja California; my five Baja birds brought my list up to 671.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 4, 2018
"Any day could be a very special day, and probably will be, if we just go out and look."
My husband and I walked the "Orange Trail", a 2.5 mile loop at our city park the other day. This trail meanders through a variety of habitats and the birds were not special that day. What was special was the decibels of loud peeps of hundreds (?thousands) of "spring peepers" at one marshy turn, far louder than I had ever heard!
"Any day could be a very special day, and probably will be, if we just go out and look." This is Kenn Kaufman's life philosophy and living his philosophy he dropped out of his high school at age 16 and thumbed his way around America. Seeking his passion/obsession to see and list the birds of America. Two years later he started his "Big Year" - his goal to break the record of listing more species of birds in 365 days than any other person ever in this country.
Kenn Kaufman lived his Big Year spending ~ $1000, half of this money went for flights to remote Alaskan Islands in search of migrants from Russia and beyond. He hitched and crisscrossed our country numerous times. He slept out in the open in all weather. He was frequently hungry, freezing cold or melting hot, and sleep deprived. At the end of the year, it wasn't the number of birds that he listed or whether he "won" that year's Big Year, that mattered. It was the journey and it was the birds that mattered. Kaufman exited that year with excitement and passion to go back and not only see but to observe all the species he had encountered. He wanted to know the birds in depth and fellow readers - that is exactly what Kenn Kaufman has done. In 2018 he is one of the most respected ornithologists in the world, a world renowned Author of Field Guides, and a leader in championing protection of habitats and environments for our wildlife of all kinds.
Kenn Kaufman is one tough SOB, so suppress that snigger next time you see someone with a broad rimmed hat and a pair of binoculars with skinny legs. That Birder could likely hike you into the ground and has a passion,interest, and knowledge that is enviable.
"But in the early 1970's, we were not birdwatching. We were birding, and that made all the difference. We were out to seek, to discover, to chase, to learn, to find ..."
My husband and I walked the "Orange Trail", a 2.5 mile loop at our city park the other day. This trail meanders through a variety of habitats and the birds were not special that day. What was special was the decibels of loud peeps of hundreds (?thousands) of "spring peepers" at one marshy turn, far louder than I had ever heard!
"Any day could be a very special day, and probably will be, if we just go out and look." This is Kenn Kaufman's life philosophy and living his philosophy he dropped out of his high school at age 16 and thumbed his way around America. Seeking his passion/obsession to see and list the birds of America. Two years later he started his "Big Year" - his goal to break the record of listing more species of birds in 365 days than any other person ever in this country.
Kenn Kaufman lived his Big Year spending ~ $1000, half of this money went for flights to remote Alaskan Islands in search of migrants from Russia and beyond. He hitched and crisscrossed our country numerous times. He slept out in the open in all weather. He was frequently hungry, freezing cold or melting hot, and sleep deprived. At the end of the year, it wasn't the number of birds that he listed or whether he "won" that year's Big Year, that mattered. It was the journey and it was the birds that mattered. Kaufman exited that year with excitement and passion to go back and not only see but to observe all the species he had encountered. He wanted to know the birds in depth and fellow readers - that is exactly what Kenn Kaufman has done. In 2018 he is one of the most respected ornithologists in the world, a world renowned Author of Field Guides, and a leader in championing protection of habitats and environments for our wildlife of all kinds.
Kenn Kaufman is one tough SOB, so suppress that snigger next time you see someone with a broad rimmed hat and a pair of binoculars with skinny legs. That Birder could likely hike you into the ground and has a passion,interest, and knowledge that is enviable.
"But in the early 1970's, we were not birdwatching. We were birding, and that made all the difference. We were out to seek, to discover, to chase, to learn, to find ..."
July 2, 2017
Kingbird Highway is an interesting traveling account about a young man's quest to see as many birds in the field as he can in a year ("A Big Year"). I enjoyed the beautiful and scenic journey through nature (especially his poetic writings on Alaska), but there was also the social network of birders that Kaufman encountered throughout the nation. I liked reading about the differing perspectives of the birder's outlook on birding- either serious or casual.
Most importantly, I was inspired by the eye-opening message in the afterword that the author wrote. I think that Kaufman is a very wise birder, for I do believe that he inspires many in the art of birdwatching- he definitely inspired me.
Most importantly, I was inspired by the eye-opening message in the afterword that the author wrote. I think that Kaufman is a very wise birder, for I do believe that he inspires many in the art of birdwatching- he definitely inspired me.
January 21, 2024
What an impressive adventure. I’m glad he shared his story, especially with such care and humility. It’s a grounding commentary on needing to remember the reasons we birdwatch.
For example, in December: “One thing was becoming obvious to me now: list-chasing was not the best way to learn birds. It had been a good way to start, an incentive for getting a lot of places and seeing a lot of species. But the lure of running up a big list made it all too tempting to simply check off a bird and run to the next, without taking time to really get to know them. And there was so much that I did not know.”
For example, in December: “One thing was becoming obvious to me now: list-chasing was not the best way to learn birds. It had been a good way to start, an incentive for getting a lot of places and seeing a lot of species. But the lure of running up a big list made it all too tempting to simply check off a bird and run to the next, without taking time to really get to know them. And there was so much that I did not know.”
December 30, 2019
Now I know why this book is a classic in the birding world! Chronicle of Kenn's 1973 Big Year (and put into book form 30 years later). In addition to all the birds and birders referenced, Kaufman's experiences mirror my own from the 1970s, in so many ways, e.g. from finding out about California's "under 18" law, to crossing the Canadian border as a 19-year-old longhair with little money, to our 1978 birding quest that took my partner and me to many of the "hotspots" mentioned in the book. This is one of those that I wished I had read earlier!!! (Just noted on my Goodreads that I had added it to my "to read" pile in 2015! At least I got it read in the same decade, just barely.)
December 28, 2023
When I first started birding, I was at The Biggest Week in American Birding, standing next to Ken Kaufman. I recognized him as the author of some books I was pursuing, but didn't fully appreciate my proximity to a legend. I took my time reading this one. What an incredible adventure that could likely not be replicated in today's world.
August 8, 2020
As a person who was brought up by parents who raised waterfowl for zoos, I really appreciated this book. It reminded me of our family trips to national parks looking for ducks.
December 19, 2021
Dude looks at birds and hitchhikes across the continent for a year. Lyrical window into crazy subculture. Great if you like this sort of thing.
December 28, 2022
Not the most gripping book I’ve ever read, but the idea of someone hitchhiking to see over 600 birds in a year is actually insane!
Loved this quote from the afterword: “As trivial as our listing pursuit may be, it gets us out there in the real world, paying attention, hopeful and awake. Any day could be a special day, and probably will be, if we just go out to look.”
Loved this quote from the afterword: “As trivial as our listing pursuit may be, it gets us out there in the real world, paying attention, hopeful and awake. Any day could be a special day, and probably will be, if we just go out to look.”
January 17, 2023
4.6 stars.
March 6, 2023
Fascinating memoir of a young birder who left high school to hitchhike around the states, crisscrossing borders north & south to achieve a Big Year in 1973.
November 16, 2023
It took me quite a while to finish this book and not because I’m a slow reader. I kept stopping to look up birds and listen to their songs. Ken Kaufman has the ability to make one want to go in search of birds, beautiful or drab. It makes me sad to realize that some of the birds he describes are now gone and more are being added to the soon to be extinct list.
December 21, 2020
This is my third book on a birder's big year, and maybe the best so far. Kaufman's writing resonated with me, and just enough introspection mixed with bird lore and travel to keep me turning the pages.
February 5, 2015
Birder Kenn Kaufman chronicles the beginning of his love affair with birds, taking us from a childhood memorizing local species in Kansas to teenage adventures hitchhiking across the country, a high-school dropout in search of new species to add to his list.
It's a pretty gentle look at obsession, using a genial, easygoing voice to capture utter fixation. From the start, Kaufman makes it clear that he's uninterested in living by anyone else's standards, and his focus finds him sleeping on a tarp and subsisting on nothing as he thumbs his way across the country looking for the next black-capped gnatcatcher or horned guan.
"I could easily go birding for a month on fifty bucks. All my travel was by hitchhiking. I never slept in motels--literally never; I slept outside, regardless of the weather. For food, I tried to get by on a dollar a day. Going to grocery stores, I would buy cans of vegetable soup, cans of hominy, perishables marked down for quick sale. Later I discovered that dry cat food was palatable, barely; a box of Little Friskies, stuffed in my backpack, could keep me gong for days."
Soon, though, Kaufman realizes there's a community much like him. It's not long before the thrill of discovery extends to the joys of companionship as the young traveler meets friends, mentors and even his first wife. Before long, he's decided to take a shot at setting a new record for a "Big Year"--an attempt to see as many species as possible in one calendar year. This effort, which makes up the bulk of the book, sees him starving himself and spending lonely hours waiting on highway-on-ramps as he travels to see the next bird.
"Kingbird Highway" is easy and approachable, especially for a book that deals with a specialized subject. Even in naming more than 600 species, Kaufman is careful to remain open to birding novices, communicating just a bit of what makes each species special to encounter.
Beyond the biology, though, I most enjoyed his efforts to conjure the era's birding community. We see how newsletters and phone trees are changing the hobby. We also meet plenty of characters, from backyard birders to prodigies dreaming of tropical landscapes to survey. There are sleepless nights, Alaskan airways and dreamlike journeys south of the border.
Through it all, the author's steady voice keeps our focus on the next milestone he needs to hit for the record. By the end of the year, Kaufman has grown disenchanted with the checklist approach to birding, wanting to move toward a deeper connection with the species he loves. The contest ends up almost an afterthought...although that may be because of how it turns out.
I do wish Kaufman had turned a sharper eye on himself, trying to unravel exactly what motivated him to commit to such a harsh life on the road. Sure, there are some stabs at an explanation, but it feels detached instead of urgent. It's not surprising to read that the book was crafted decades after the experience; it does feel like a bit of the immediacy has been drained from it, although it may also benefit from the longer perspective.
If you're not interested in birds, this may not be the book for you, as Kaufman devotes a lot of space to their habits and calls as well as the thrill they incite in a certain crowd. Not being a birder myself, I enjoyed a glimpse into their world, and I didn't have much difficulty following Kaufman to the end of this first journey.
It's a pretty gentle look at obsession, using a genial, easygoing voice to capture utter fixation. From the start, Kaufman makes it clear that he's uninterested in living by anyone else's standards, and his focus finds him sleeping on a tarp and subsisting on nothing as he thumbs his way across the country looking for the next black-capped gnatcatcher or horned guan.
"I could easily go birding for a month on fifty bucks. All my travel was by hitchhiking. I never slept in motels--literally never; I slept outside, regardless of the weather. For food, I tried to get by on a dollar a day. Going to grocery stores, I would buy cans of vegetable soup, cans of hominy, perishables marked down for quick sale. Later I discovered that dry cat food was palatable, barely; a box of Little Friskies, stuffed in my backpack, could keep me gong for days."
Soon, though, Kaufman realizes there's a community much like him. It's not long before the thrill of discovery extends to the joys of companionship as the young traveler meets friends, mentors and even his first wife. Before long, he's decided to take a shot at setting a new record for a "Big Year"--an attempt to see as many species as possible in one calendar year. This effort, which makes up the bulk of the book, sees him starving himself and spending lonely hours waiting on highway-on-ramps as he travels to see the next bird.
"Kingbird Highway" is easy and approachable, especially for a book that deals with a specialized subject. Even in naming more than 600 species, Kaufman is careful to remain open to birding novices, communicating just a bit of what makes each species special to encounter.
Beyond the biology, though, I most enjoyed his efforts to conjure the era's birding community. We see how newsletters and phone trees are changing the hobby. We also meet plenty of characters, from backyard birders to prodigies dreaming of tropical landscapes to survey. There are sleepless nights, Alaskan airways and dreamlike journeys south of the border.
Through it all, the author's steady voice keeps our focus on the next milestone he needs to hit for the record. By the end of the year, Kaufman has grown disenchanted with the checklist approach to birding, wanting to move toward a deeper connection with the species he loves. The contest ends up almost an afterthought...although that may be because of how it turns out.
I do wish Kaufman had turned a sharper eye on himself, trying to unravel exactly what motivated him to commit to such a harsh life on the road. Sure, there are some stabs at an explanation, but it feels detached instead of urgent. It's not surprising to read that the book was crafted decades after the experience; it does feel like a bit of the immediacy has been drained from it, although it may also benefit from the longer perspective.
If you're not interested in birds, this may not be the book for you, as Kaufman devotes a lot of space to their habits and calls as well as the thrill they incite in a certain crowd. Not being a birder myself, I enjoyed a glimpse into their world, and I didn't have much difficulty following Kaufman to the end of this first journey.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 254 reviews