The name of John James Audubon is synonymous with the study, description, and illustration of avian species. Audubon painstakingly documented some 490 species of birds for his seminal work, “The Birds of America.” Audubon was more than just a keen observer—he also possessed a vivid imagination. This imagination once led the great naturalist to concoct some fictitious finned and feathered creatures that never existed! They were intended as a prank on his friend and rival, the esteemed French naturalist Constantine Rafinesque.
The story goes that Rafinesque was visiting Audubon at his home when a bat flew into the guest room. Thinking it was a new species, the Frenchman tried to kill it. Unfortunately, the weapon he chose in haste happened to be Audubon’s favorite violin, which he managed to destroy! John plotted “revenge,” eloquently describing 11 species of fish, two birds, two plants, and nine wild rats to his friend, who fell for the elaborate joke. The Frenchman included some of the concocted species in his own works. It was only years later that biologists discovered the hoax after Rafinesque had added them to the scientific record.
An American Leonardo
At the age of 18, John James Audubon first set foot on American soil. The year was 1803, and his father, Jean, had sent him to Pennsylvania to avoid his being conscripted in Napoleon’s wars. Jean owned land near Valley Forge, and it was here that young Audubon was sent to manage his father’s properties. But this inquisitive and sensitive young man would become something of a Renaissance man—an American Leonardo.
He was, like Leonardo, his father’s illegitimate child, and he was nurtured in his youth by his father’s family. Audubon had taught himself to draw birds as a boy. He followed in the neoclassical conventions of scientific illustration common in the day, becoming a skilled draftsman. Like Leonardo, his curiosity was insatiable. He wanted to know if the eastern phoebes (a species of flycatcher) that nested near his new home in Pennsylvania returned every year. He wrote: “When they were about to leave the nest, I fixed a light silver thread to the leg of each.” The next spring, the returning phoebes still had their silver threads—arguably the first recorded instance of bird banding in North America.
He married his neighbor, Lucy Bakewell, in 1808. She was a talented pianist, well-read, and shared many common interests with Audubon. She would become his partner in business and was very supportive of his artistic endeavors. The day after they were married, the couple left Pennsylvania and headed west. They traveled to Pittsburgh and made their way to Louisville, Kentucky, where Audubon became a merchant. The Panic of 1819 erased his fortunes, but this failure propelled him in a new direction.
Supporting his family as a portraitist, Audubon conceived for himself a great mission. He would create an illustrated publication documenting all of America’s birds. He collected specimens and made copious notes. He built upon his initial work in Pennsylvania, but he continued to travel to expand on that work, often leaving Lucy to run his business ventures. His travels would take him to Florida, Newfoundland, and into the American West.
Revolutionizing Scientific Illustrations
Many meticulous drawings of bird species already existed. In the work of professional ornithologists, they were mostly stiff and lifeless depictions—created from taxidermy specimens. Early in his work, Audubon learned to wire freshly killed birds into lifelike poses from his observations. His initial field sketches also were watercolored on the spot, recording natural colors that often faded very quickly after birds died.Critics sometimes accused him of “over-dramatizing” the behavior of his subjects—as in the case of his illustration of Mocking Birds and Rattlesnake. “Rattlesnakes can’t climb trees,” they said. In fact, they can if the bark is textured enough—Audubon likely observed it. Audubon did not work alone. Botanical Illustrator Maria Martin worked on many of his backgrounds.
In 1824, John Audubon went to Philadelphia seeking a publisher for his work. He was not successful, but he met Charles Lucien Bonaparte, a French naturalist. Bonaparte suggested he go to Europe to have his drawings engraved.
‘Birds of America’
The first image engraved and printed from a copper plate was of Meleagris gallopavo, the wild turkey. The engraved plate was printed in what was known as “double elephant” size (approximately 39.5 inches by 26.5 inches). It was meticulously hand-tinted, faithfully following Audubon’s original watercolors.
The publication was serialized from 1827 to 1838. Subscribers to the serialized publication of the engravings included England’s King George IV and American President Andrew Jackson. Following the successful publication of “Birds of America,” Audubon began work on his second great project: “The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America” (viviparous means bringing forth live young that have developed inside the body of the parent). Audubon and his son, John W., rendered fur with the same detail he had given to feathers.
Modern biologists, with their fast film and telephoto lenses, sometimes fail to appreciate the amazing legacy of Audubon. He truly mastered the field of scientific observation with simpler tools, and his famous illustrations of America’s birds continue to be treasured.
