The Birds of America

"Birds of America (book)" redirects here. For the collection of short stories by Lorrie Moore, see Birds of America (stories).

The Birds of America
The cover shows a Louisiana heron,
Egretta tricolor (now called tricolored heron)
AuthorJohn James Audubon
Original titleThe Birds of America; from original drawings by John James Audubon[1]
IllustratorJohn James Audubon
Joseph Mason
SubjectBirds – North America; Birds – pictorial works[1]
GenreOrnithology
Publication date
1827–1838
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Pages435
598.2
LC ClassQL674 .A9 1827[1]

The Birds of America is a book by naturalist and painter John James Audubon, containing illustrations of a wide variety of birds of the United States. It was first published as a series in sections between 1827 and 1838, in Edinburgh and London. Not all of the specimens illustrated in the work were collected by Audubon himself; some were sent to him by John Kirk Townsend, who had collected them on Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth's 1834 expedition with Thomas Nuttall.[2][3]

The work consists of 435 hand-coloured, life-size prints, made from engraved plates, measuring around 39 by 26 inches (99 by 66 cm). It includes images of five extinct birds and three more possibly extinct birds: Carolina parakeet, passenger pigeon, Labrador duck, great auk, pinnated grouse, and, possibly, the Eskimo curlew, Ivory-billed woodpecker, and Bachman's warbler.[4][5] Also, there are five more images of 'mystery birds' that are not identified with any extant species : Townsend’s Finch (identified in a later edition as Townsend’s Bunting), Cuvier’s Kinglet, Carbonated Swamp Warbler, Small-headed Flycatcher and Blue Mountain Warbler.[6]

Art historians describe Audubon's work as being of high quality and printed with "artistic finesse".[7] The plant life backgrounds of some 50 of the bird studies were painted by Audubon's assistant Joseph Mason, but he is not credited for his work in the book.[8] He shot many specimen birds as well as transporting and maintaining supplies for Audubon.[9] Audubon however used the background plants and insects painted by Maria Martin, later wife of John Bachman, with credit. George Lehman was hired to draw some of the perches and background detail. Audubon also authored the companion book Ornithological Biographies.[10][11]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference loccat was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Mearns, B. & R. John Kirk Townsend: Collector of Audubon's Western Birds and Mammals (2007).
  3. ^ 'Narrative of a Journey Across the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River' by John Kirk Townsend
  4. ^ Society, National Audubon. "Extinct Birds". web4.audubon.org.
  5. ^ ""Extinct Species in Audubon's Birds of America"". audubonart.com.
  6. ^ Pollak, Michael (21 August 2015). "Five Mystery Birds Among Audubon's Paintings". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Burt, DeVere. "The Joseph Mason Project, Historic Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum" Archived 22 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Ruthven.com website. Accessed 17 December 2015.
  9. ^ "Blast From the Past: Everyone Needs a Good Assistant". History Detectives. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Audubon's Birds of America". digital2.library.pitt.edu. Retrieved 27 November 2017.