Abram Sager’s Catalogue (Sager 1839)

In a Report prepared for Douglass Houghton (the State Geologist), Abram Sager (the State Zoologist) attributed 163 species to Michigan exclusive of the “Black Hawk, Buteo Sancti Johannis,” now considered merely a subspecies of the Rough-legged Hawk (B. lagopus). Sager’s list included the previously reported Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) but excluded the Evening Grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus), for a net total of 165 species attributed to the state to date. While Sager’s report consisted of a mere list, lacking annotations or supporting documentation, there seems no reason to question the validity of any of the species on his list.

Sager’s catalogue—the first attempt to compile a comprehensive list of the birds of Michigan—was based on extensive collecting at unspecified localities in the “southeast” and “southeastern” portions of the state in 1837. Indeed, the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology still houses many specimens attributed to Sager. Especially notable is the remarkable number of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) collected by Sager—21! Barrows' (1910:288) description of the decline of this species due to the ravages of humans is instructive:

It was formerly much more abundant, and probably a few pairs nested in every county in the state, but the birds are followed relentlessly by hunters who shoot them for specimens or for mere sport, and the nests nave been robbed year after year by egg collectors, so that one by one the nests have been deserted and the birds have withdrawn to places of greater security. It is much to be regretted that this wanton destruction has been permitted . . . . 

Citation:

SAGER, Ab[ra]m. 1839. Report of Doct. Abm. Sager, Zoologist ofGeological Survey: Catalogue—Class Aves.  Pp. 410-417 in Documents Accompanying the Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Michigan 1839. J. S. and S. A. Bagg, Printers, Detroit, Michigan.