The MeatEater Podcast: Ep. 848 – How America Almost Lost Its Birds

Date: March 16, 2026
Host: Steven Rinella
Guest: James H. McCommons, author of "The Feather Wars: The Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds"

Overview

In this episode, Steven Rinella sits down with author and former Northern Michigan University professor James H. McCommons to explore how, through unregulated hunting, the feather trade, and egg collecting, America nearly wiped out numerous bird species by the early 20th century — and the movement of hunters, scientists, and conservationists that turned the tide, culminating in landmark legislation that still shapes wildlife management today. This is a rich, story-filled episode for anyone interested in how public sentiment, science, and policy converged to save America’s birds.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introducing James H. McCommons and the Historical Context

[01:41 – 04:43]

• McCommons, journalist, nature writer, and emeritus professor at NMU, introduces his background and connections to outdoor literature and Marquette, MI.
• Discussion of George Shiras, pioneering wildlife photographer and congressman, whose 1904 bird protection bill predated the Migratory Bird Treaty.
• Literary asides set a conversational, story-driven tone.

Notable quote:

“We’d go out to where his [Shiras’s] first wildlife photographs were taken and read some of George’s stuff.” – James H. McCommons [04:02]

2. The Early Days of Wildlife Photography & Bird Conservation

[06:38 – 10:49]

• Shiras’s innovations in field photography (e.g., tripwire “trail cams,” chemical flash) and why his photos look unusual.
• Shiras’s role in introducing early bird-protection laws in Congress.
• McCommons’s research journey: How learning about Shiras led him to the broader bird conservation story.

Notable quote:

“He’s the inventor of the trail camera. Without a doubt.” – James H. McCommons [09:42]

3. Framing the Conservation Crisis and the Movement’s Roots

[11:24 – 13:01]

• Conversation on how book ideas form and how themes in bird conservation history developed for McCommons.
• McCommons sought to tell how hunters, ornithologists, and the Audubon Society converged to save birds, often starting with only sketchy outlines in archives.

4. Federal Vs. State Battles Over Bird Protection (Legal Test Cases)

[13:51 – 18:29]

• Story of Ray Holland (federal warden) pursuing Missouri’s Attorney General Frank McAllister, who contravened federal migratory bird laws to hunt ducks out of season, leading to a significant Supreme Court test of federal authority.
• The state-vs-federal legal saga, with states arguing birds were theirs to regulate, culminating in affirmation of federal jurisdiction.

Notable quote:

“The Attorney General actually argued his own case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court... and lost. And that was the test case for the Migratory Bird Treaty.” – James H. McCommons [16:28]

5. Forgotten History: Songbird & Small Bird Hunting

[19:47 – 24:29]

• Early 20th-century practice of hunting not just game birds but songbirds (“dicky birds”) for food, especially among Southern and immigrant communities.
• Localized declines (e.g., robins harvested for food in Louisiana) and how immigrant traditions intersected with subsistence needs.
• Anecdotes of robins and other songbirds cooked into sauces and stews.

6. The Feather Trade: Fashion, Social Status, and Mass Slaughter

[24:29 – 35:47]

• The late 1800s “feather craze”—giant women’s hats adorned with plumes, driving mass slaughter especially of egrets, spoonbills, and herons.
• Consumer awareness: Some feathers, like Snowy Egret breeding plumes, were “more valuable than their weight in gold.”
• Frank Chapman’s “sidewalk survey” quantifying bird species on Manhattan hats, exposing the feather trade’s scope.

Notable, lighthearted moment (on fashion excess):

“It wasn’t just feathers. They were putting taxidermy birds on their heads… as time went on these hats became more ostentatious.” – James H. McCommons [26:02]

On Chapman’s survey:

“He noticed that 500 some women out of 700 had feathers in their hats. And… he could tell that they were, you know, flickers, woodpeckers… backyard garden birds.” – James H. McCommons [34:05]

7. Oology, Nidology & Bird Egg Collecting Mania

[36:09 – 45:12]

• Egg and nest collecting (“oology” and “nidology”) as scientific pursuit, hobby craze, and market—destroying local rare bird populations.
• Collectors’ cabinets of curiosity: prized raptor eggs, elaborate trading/sales, and even famous figures like Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt caught up in the craze.
• How fad collecting sometimes did real conservation harm.

Notable quote:

“You shot birds, you took their eggs, and you took their nest… because optics weren’t very good and there really were no good field guides at that time. If you were interested in birds, you went out with your shotgun.” – James H. McCommons [36:49]

8. When Did the Damage Become Apparent?

[50:18 – 53:21]

• By 1880s-1890s, even ornithologist clubs realized large-scale “feather wars” and meat hunting were wiping out colonies: e.g., 60,000 terns killed in a single year off Cape Cod, 95% of Florida’s wading birds gone by the 1890s.
• Commercialization (e.g., packing birds in salt/brine barrels for shipment) facilitated market hunting at scale.
• Contextualizing today’s abundance: Some birds, like egrets and eagles, are only now returning to everyday visibility.

9. The Turn: Conservation Movement and Legislative Milestones

[56:29 – 59:33]

• Unregulated status could not last; the concept of “conservation” and the understanding of limits emerged in the late 19th century.
• Three streams converged: sentimentalist/Audubon women (“bird sentimentalists”), hunters tired of market/meat hunting, and scientific ornithologists.
• The looming extinction of species—passenger pigeon, ivory-billed woodpecker, Carolina parakeet—rallied broader public support.

Notable quote:

“Sometimes today you hear politicians talk about deregulation as though it’s the greatest thing in the world. What saved America's birds is regulation.” – Steven Rinella [56:42]

10. Passing Laws: The Lacey Act, Weeks-McLean, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act

[63:25 – 78:27]

• Early “model laws” (non-game bird protections) had little effect due to weak state enforcement.
• Lacey Act (1900): First major federal move – made it illegal to ship illegally-killed birds across state lines. This undercut both meat and feather markets.
  • “It was really the first federalization of wildlife and birds.” – McCommons [65:40]
• Weeks-McLean Act (1913): Attempted to close loopholes, regulate hunting, ban market shooting, and protect “dickey birds” under Audubon pressure.
• The Legal Hurdle: Supreme Court doubts federal jurisdiction – so conservationists pursued international treaty as a workaround.
• Migratory Bird Treaty (1916, with Britain/Canada): Used the Supremacy Clause to establish federal control, including over hunting season timing and species.
• Legal dramatics: Missouri AG Frank McAllister purposely violates the act, is arrested, and loses in the Supreme Court, affirming federal power.

Notable quote:

“If you get a bird treaty under the Supremacy Clause, it circumvents the Supreme Court.” – James H. McCommons [78:26]

11. Cultural and Legal Legacy

[80:18 – 86:11]

• The club in Missouri (scene of McAllister’s arrest) still exists, but remembers the saga as a possible “set up”—the reality was defiant local opposition to federal law, not a planned test case.
• Contemporary “open fields doctrine” gives game wardens latitude to check for violations on private land—still hotly debated as a balance between property rights and protection of the commons.

Memorable Quotes & Anecdotes

• On the conservation mentality shift:

  “At the time… sport hunting first started… the whole idea was to kill as many things as you could. That was a good day in the field. That began to change… People started to realize you can’t cut all the trees down, or someday you will cut all the trees down, or kill all the buffalo, or… all the Canada geese.” – James H. McCommons [61:21]

• On the fashion absurdity of feather hats:

  “Some women had to put their head out the window in order to ride on a streetcar, because their hat was so big.” – James H. McCommons [28:11]

• On lost abundance and recovery:

  “You could be on a shoreline back then and there were no herons. You see egrets all over in pastures. There were no egrets in those pastures.” – Steven Rinella [55:22]

Key Timestamps

• Emeritus professor, literary background: [02:47 – 04:43]
• Bird photography and origins of conservation: [06:38 – 10:49]
• Ray Holland vs. AG McAllister test case: [13:51 – 18:29]
• Feather fashion’s toll: [24:29 – 35:47]
• Egg collecting mania (“oology, nidology”): [36:09 – 45:12]
• At what point did crisis become clear: [50:18 – 53:21]
• Legislative milestones (Lacey, Weeks-McLean, Migratory Bird Treaty): [63:25 – 78:27]
• Open fields doctrine & private land enforcement: [83:04 – 85:19]

Tone and Final Thoughts

The episode is nerdy, historical, humorous, and layered with both drama and humility. Rinella brings irreverence and practical hunting insight, while McCommons blends archival storytelling with a scholar’s precision. Both remind listeners that conservation was—and remains—a hard-won compromise, with regulation at its core.

Final Notable Quote:

“What saved America’s birds is regulation. If we had stayed… unregulated, they’d be gone.” – Steven Rinella [56:42]

Additional Resources

• Book: The Feather Wars and the Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds, James H. McCommons [hardcover, released March 17, 2026].
• Referenced Laws: Lacey Act (1900), Weeks-McLean Act (1913), Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918, after treaty with Canada/Britain).
• Historical figures: George Shiras, Frank Chapman, T. Gilbert Pearson, Theodore Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell.

This summary captures not just the historical arc, but the color and curiosity that make this episode a must-listen for conservationists, hunters, and lovers of wild America alike.