[1][2] The club initially was a small informal group of William Brewster's childhood friends, all of whom shared his interest in ornithology.

In 1872, Henshaw suggested that the group meet on a regular weekly schedule at Brewster's house in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

[3] On November 17, 1873, the group, which had expanded to include Henry Augustus Purdie, William Earl Dodge Scott, Francis P. Atkinson, Harry Balch Bailey, Ernest Ingersoll, and Walter Woodman, met to formally establish the first American ornithological club.

[4] They named their club after the botanist and zoologist Thomas Nuttall[1][5][6] who published the first field guide for North American birds, Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and of Canada (1832).

However, after one issue, Maynard and Purdie were removed as editors and Joel Asaph Allen, who had recently joined the club, became the sole editor-in-chief.