Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent interweaves a biographical sketch of Darwin that emphasizes his ornithological work together with extensive personal details from Haupt's own experience in the field, with birds, and in the conservation movement. Reviewing the book for RNCSE, Paul Lawrence Farber wrote, "Darwin's humanity, humility, and observational acuity emerge in her telling of his life seen through the lens of his interest in birds. This is an ideal book to give to a birdwatcher acquaintance who thinks Darwin was some sort of modern devil, out to destroy religion and to dehumanize our picture of nature."