Kingbird Highway

I loved this book. I serendipitously got to go birding with Kaufman for a few hours earlier this year, and decided to read his memoir of his Big Year. But it is so much more than that.

Towards the end of his year, and of this book, he started to tire of the competitive listing he was doing. He just wanted to focus on the birds. Though I am nowhere near the level of birder he is, I reached the same conclusion late in Spring migration. I stopped caring about adding birds to my total, and just started focusing on the birds that were in front of me. Reading this book has made me more steadfast in my position about why I bird.

I think this book can be enjoyed by birders and non-birders alike, but it is essential reading if you are a birder.

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.