It was 225 years ago on April 26, 1785 when Jean Jacque Rabin was born near the Les Cayes area of Santo Domingo, Haiti. The infant was born to Jean Audubon, a French merchant and his Creole mistress, Jeanne Rabin. Would anyone guess this infant would become the world renowned American naturalist and artist of his own time? Raised and educated in France, he changed his name in 1803 when he emigrated to America. John James Audubon was avoiding participation in another French war.

As a young man, John James Audubon was known to be handsome and outgoing in personality. He fenced, danced, learned to ride and play violin and flute. Mostly he loved walking and wandering in the woods. When he found bird eggs or nests he would bring them home and draw them. Thus began his collections. Even as a child, Audubon was inclined to see birds. He felt connected with birds somehow. His father influenced this fascination with birds and offered information regarding the behavior and patterns for each of the different seasons. Once in America young Audubon became acquainted with the neighbor who would become his wife, Lucy Bakewell. Of their four children, the daughters died during infancy but the 2 sons grew into capable and strong supporters of his work

John James Audubon had a family to support. He put together a trading business located in Kentucky however in 1820 dropped the idea of running a business and responded to his true calling of becoming an artist and also a naturalist. After many years of travel and attempts at running a business with his brother, he devoted his time to painting and illustrating birds.

Audubon’s art was vitally important to him and he always was learning and improving his techniques. He burned his old works and redid them to make them better. He desired to paint all the birds of America but Alexander Wilson had already started on a project much like that. Even so, Audubon’s work was considerably more detailed. Developing his own techniques and utilizing sketches and watercolors, Audubon created life-size images with natural habitat for background. He used specimens he collected in the wilderness and used wires to hold them in the position desired for that painting. Wilson’s paintings were more stiff and formal. The fine grade of shot that Audubon used resulted in less damage to the birds during their capture and collection. When his work demanded more of his time he hired hunters to bring in particular specimens to augment his collection.

In 1826 he went to England in the hope of having his drawings published, by the following year he had obtained sufficient subscribers to enable him to begin the publication of his Birds of America. When this gargantuan project was completed in 1838 this masterpiece was comprised of 435 colored plates, containing 1055 figures of life-size birds. It represented 14 years of work including a lifetime of experience and dedication to ornithology and art.

Audubon relentlessly advertised The Birds of America and sold subscriptions to pay for its publication. The self-taught artist and naturalist was scorned at first by ornithologists, but has since then become renowned for his paintings. It was the first time birds were depicted in natural habitats and poses. In 1886 a bird preservation organization took his name and eventually over the years became the National Audubon Society.

Though the specimen collection methods during Audubon’s time were lethal for the birds, the lessons learned have lasted beyond his lifetime. During his southern travels Audubon identified 39 new species of birds and always kept detailed journals of his wildlife observations as an authentic naturalist. Certainly if he had access to things like zoom binoculars or spotting scopes to observe birds and wildlife our story might be entirely different. Sometimes I think Audubon would have really appreciated access to a Swarovski spotting scope.

John James Audubon was the first naturalist who began to band birds to study their movements. By tying yarn to Eastern Phoebes Audubon discovered these birds did return to identical nesting locations annually. The life of John James Audubon is indeed fascinating and filled with trials and struggles of the young artist seeking to feed his family. In reality his life story reads like a pioneer adventure tale. Even today the works of John James Audubon are treasured and hallmarks of the artist’s skills and talents.

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