Home > John James Audubon

Audubon was born in Haiti, the illegitimate son of a French sea captain and his mistress, and raised in France by his stepmother. His early education included lessons from Jacques Louis David, later famous as a painter in revolutionary France.

In 1803 his father obtained a false passport for for him to travel to the United States to avoid the draft for the Napoleonic Wars. He caught yellow feverYellow fever (also called black vomit or sometimes The American Plague is an acute viral disease. It is still an important cause of hemorrhagic illness in several African and South American countries despite existence of an effective vaccine. In the past and the seacaptain placed him in a boarding house ran by Quaker women who nursed him to recovery and taught him the unique Quaker form of English.

He oversaw a family farm near Philadelphia and began the study of natural history by conducting the first bird-bandingBird ringing (also known as bird banding is an aid to studying wild birds, by attaching a small individually numbered metal or plastic ring to their legs or wings, so that various aspects of the bird's life can be studied by the ability to re-find the sam on the continent; he tied yarn to the legs of Eastern PhoebeThe Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe is a small passerine bird. This tyrant flycatcher breeds in eastern North America, although its normal range does not include the southeastern coastal USA. It is migratory, wintering in the southernmost USA and Central As and determined that they returned to the same nesting spots year after year. He also began drawing and painting birds.

After years of business success in PennsylvaniaPennsylvania (the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is one of four states of the United States of America that is called a commonwealth. It has given its name to the Pennsylvanian time period in geology. Pennsylvania is called the Keystone State. Although Swed and KentuckyCommonwealth of Kentucky ( In Detail) (Full size) State nickname: Bluegrass State Other U. States Capital Frankfort Largest City Louisville Governor Ernie Fletcher Area Total Land Water % water Ranked 37th 104,749 km² 102,989 km² 1,760 km² 1. 7% Populatio, he went bankrupt. This impelled him to pursue his nature study and painting more vigorously and he sailed off down the MississippiThis page is about the river in the United States; for other uses, see Mississippi River (disambiguation). The Mississippi River is the second-longest river in the United States; the longest is the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi. Taken t with his gun and paintbox and assistant, intent on finding and painting all the birds of North America.

In order to draw or paint the birds, he had to shoot them first, using fine shot to prevent them to be shot to pieces. He then used fixed wires to prop them up, restoring a natural position. His birds are set true-to-life in their natural habitat. This was in stark contrast with the stiff representations of birds by his contemporaries, such as Alexander WilsonFor the 1970s MP of this name see Alexander Wilson (Scottish politician Alexander Wilson ( July 6, 1766 August 23, 1813) was a Scottish-born American poet, ornithologist, naturalist and illustrator. Wilson was born in Paisley, Scotland, the son of an illi.

Since he had no other income, he started to peddle his drawings and paintings. He tried to sell them to Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences, but was rebuffed.

Finally, in 1826, in a quest for recognition, he set sail with his portfolio to London. The British couln't get enough of images of backwoods America and he was an instant success. He was lionized as "The American Woodsman" and raised enough money to publish his Birds of America. This consisted of hand-colored, life-size prints made from engraved plates. Even King George IV was an avid fan of Audubon. He was elected a fellow of London's Royal Society. In this, he followed the footsteps of Benjamin Franklin, who was the first American fellow.

He followed his "Birds of America" up with a companion work, Ornithological Biographies, life histories of each species written with Scottish ornithologist William MacGillivray. Both the books of paintings and the biographies were published between 1827 and 1839.

During that time, Audubon continued making expeditions in North America and bought an estate on the Hudson river, now Audubon Park. In 1842 he published a popular edition of Birds of America in the United States. His final work was on mammals, the Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. It was completed by his sons and son-in-law. He is buried in the Trinity Churchyard Cemetery at 155th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, New York.

The National Audubon Society was established and named in his honor in 1866. Several towns and one county (in Iowa) also bear his name.

Started a General Store in Louisville, Kentucky.

Lived in Henderson, Kentucky. Witnessed the 1810-1811 earthquakes.

Carolina Pigeon
(now called Mourning Dove)