Bighorn, Pelicans and Wild Turkeys was written by Roland "Ro" Wauer who, throughout his 32-year career in the National Park Service, personally encountered all of the animals included. He wrote about the Beavers he found along the Rio Grande and the Scaled Quail on the open desert at Big Bend National Park (NP). He includes Nelson's Bighorn and Rock Wrens in the Panamint Mountains at Death Valley NP, Kaibab Squirrels at Grand Canyon NP, Ospreys and Pine Martens at Grand Teton NP, Black Swifts in the North Cascades NP, Bison, Pronghorn and White Pelicans in Yellowstone NP, and American Dippers, Canyon Wrens and White-throated Swifts at Zion NP. Other more exotic species were found at distant localities: Bridled Quail-Doves at St. Croix, Virgin Islands, Crested Quail-Doves in Jamaica, and Potoos in Jalisco, Mexico. In addition, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge provided the setting for Whooping Cranes and Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge provided the setting for Hook-billed Kites and Parauques. Other species included were encountered either in his own yard or nearby: Buff-bellied Hummingbirds, Cottontails, Inca Doves, Eurasian Collared-Doves, Eastern Fox Squirrels, Mississippi Kites, and Wild Turkeys.