The history of American birding and American birders is not well known...until now. Here it is in an easy
to watch format with all the adventure you would expect from people who lived over 100 years ago. Audubon escapes the French Revolution and becomes an Americam backwoodsman. Wilson escapes jail in Scotland and runs to the USA. Audubon and Wilson fight over bird pictures. Wilson dies because of a bird. Elliot Coues shoots every bird he can find. Market gunners blast common birds into extinction. You'll be amazed at how many birds there really were back then. Louis Fuertes, America's best bird artist, loses a race with a locomotive. Ludlow Griscom (don't you love that name!) makes birding what we recognize today. And Roger Tory Peterson, the birder who wanted to be a painter.
The first chapter is about birding as a sport. You can skip to 5:32 on the timeline to get right to the history.