No Feathers in Your Hats!: How Florence Merriam Bailey Saved Millions of Birds

Meet young ornithologist Florence Merriam Bailey, who wrote the first US birdwatching guide to introduce the public to the beauty of observing birds in nature—instead of on women’s hats!



In the late 1800s, the study of birds was not considered a subject for girls. But young Florence Merriam Bailey loved her feathered friends and thrived on watching their behavior in the woods and meadows around her family’s farm.



In 1882, as a student at Smith College, Florence encountered birds adorning ladies’ hats! Shockingly, she learned this fashion trend harmed up to five million birds a year. Florence urged her classmates to boycott feathered hats and found more lasting ways to change their behavior--introducing them to the beauty of living birds by leading nature walks.



But Florence’s passion propelled her to do more. After college, she decided to pen a guide to seventy common US birds. Her birdwatching guide began Florence’s lifelong effort to teach the wider public about birds. A remarkable achievement for a 26-year-old!



Through her advocacy, Florence brought the beauty and wonder of observing birds to everyone. Her efforts marked the beginnings of birdwatching, now enjoyed by 96 million people in the US.



And Florence’s revolutionary idea to observe birds in nature with opera or field glasses helped to advance a nationwide conservation movement to protect these winged wonders.



Author Lynn Street's previous nonfiction picture book, The Blue Jays That Grew a Forest, received strong recognition, honored as an ALA/ALSC Notable Book and as NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book.



The talented Anne Lambelet is the author-illustrator of eatrix and Her Friends, a picture book biography about Beatrix Potter.