Robert Stroud (1890－1963) was an American prisoner who reared and sold birds and became an ornithologist while in prison. He became known as the “Birdman of Alcatraz.” Despite this , he actually kept birds only at Leavenworth Prison, before he was transferred to Alcatraz.
Stroud is one of the most notorious criminals in American history. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by hanging in 1916. His mother desperately for his life. Finally, in 1920, President Woodrow Wilson changed his death sentence to life without parole. But because of Stroud’s unpredictable and violent outbursts, the warden directed that Stroud be placed in a unit to live out his sentence in total isolation.
While at Leavenworth (1912－1942), Stroud developed a interest in birds after finding an injured sparrow in the prison yard. He was given a special right to birds and maintain a lab inside his two prison cells. It was felt that this activity would allow for productive use of his time. As a result of this , Stroud was able to author two books on canaries and their diseases. He had raised nearly 300 birds in his cells, carefully studying their habits and physiology. He even developed and marketed medicines for various kinds of bird . Although it is widely debated whether the remedies he developed were , Stroud was able to make scientific observations that would later benefit research on the canary species.
In 1942, Stroud was transferred to Alcatraz. He spent the next seventeen years there, but was not allowed to keep pets. While there, he wrote two more manuscripts, but these were never published because it was by the prison authorities. In 1963, he died in a medical center in Missouri.
