He began as a businessman in Boston, Massachusetts before becoming a professional painter. He studied at the Lowell Institute when not working. He also studied with Albert Bierstadt, William Morris Hunt, and others In 1868 he moved to New York City and in the 1870s primarily did maritime themed paintings.

Bircher was one of the last painters of the famed Hudson River School. By the end of his life, his style of painting that included landscapes and luminism fell out of style, with Modern Art becoming the premier artistic movement. As his style of art faded, so did his fame.

Over time Bircher's artwork garnered more attention and by the 1880s he began to be credited as one of the nineteenth century's greatest maritime painters. A self taught luminist, he explored the effects of light and how it reflected, refracted, and absorbed on landscapes and seascapes.

As a lover of maritime life and the sea he purchased a home in the 1890s close to the sea in the New Dorp section of Staten Island where he had views of the Atlantic Ocean and Raritan Bay. He lived and painted at the shore in New Dorp until his death in 1908.