Hatching My Passion

A childhood experience with birding sparked a lifelong passion for author and conservationist Dr. Stephen W. Kress.

A chickadee snacks from a feeder (#304259) that has two chambers for holding different types of seed.

One spring day in 1954, my fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Reed, peered down from the second-floor window of the Montrose Elementary School in Bexley, Ohio, and challenged our class: “Who can identify that brown bird poking at the ground?” As I recall, the class had just one tattered bird book—Birds, a Golden Nature Guide. It was a triumphant moment when the mystery bird leaped into the air, revealing its white rump and the flashy yellow underside of its wings, permitting me to match it with an illustration of the “Yellow-shafted” Flicker.

Later, I learned that birding guru Roger Tory Peterson also started his career by identifying a flicker! My first birding success led me to take a closer look at this Golden Guide, and my parents happily provided every other title in the series.

My parents saw the outdoors mainly as a place to mow grass and grow tomatoes. They were certain I would outgrow what seemed to them an odd obsession, but they knew I was happiest outdoors. They let me explore the streams and woods of Columbus with park naturalists and venture out with good friends—who shared my passion for getting wet—into central Ohio’s vacant lots, swamps, and creeks searching for fish, frogs, and snakes.

Looking back, I’m convinced that my experience with the flicker was the spark that eventually led me to a fulfilling career in ornithology. Decades after Mrs. Reed’s challenge, I was honored with an invitation to add my own title to the Golden Guide series. My passion for birds inspired Project Puffin, an innovative approach to restoring nesting colonies of rare seabirds in Maine using techniques that have since been replicated worldwide. Now, each summer, 15 teens and many adults study puffins and other coastal birds with me and other ornithologists at Audubon’s Hog Island, where Peterson worked as bird-life instructor in 1936.

It’s my hope that every child experiences the sense of wonder brought by discovering a flicker (or other backyard animal) for the first time—and that this discovery motivates a caring attitude of stewardship for our planet. You can make your backyard an oasis for wild birds by providing food, shelter, nesting places, and water. Once your yard is a haven for resident and migrating birds, many opportunities for observation and delight will follow.

About the Author

Dr. Stephen W. Kress is vice president for bird conservation of the National Audubon Society and teaches at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York. He lives with his wife, Elissa, and daughter, Liliana, on 33 acres, where they manage the land for songbirds and other wildlife.

Create a retreat for feathered friends in your own backyard.

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By:Danny F. Jones

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Posted: September 15, 2010

By:Danny F. Jones

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Even though I live in an urban suburb near LA, CA, I've had a great experience w/wild life! I provide water for birds to drink & bathe & for other animals & a hum/bird feeder. I put out bird seed & have had morning doves, sparrows, finches, pigeons, starlings, a blue jay, a wdpecker, a quail, a bird hawk, owls, bats, mocking birds & other unk. birds. A 'flycather' built a mud nest under an eve w/ fledgelings. 4 legged animals incl. opossums, squirrels, a toad, & lizards. My 'backyard buddies!'

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