April 26, 2010
John James Audubon, bird watcher, artist, and one of America’s original conservationists, was born this day in 1785. 
His Birds of America, a collection of 435 life-size prints, set the standard for painters of wildlife in this country. The National Audubon Society, whose mission is “to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity,” is named after him (although he played no role in its founding or operation). Although he was a hunter for most of his life, in his later years Audubon wrote about his concerns at the destruction of birds and their habitats.
You can see all 431 existing watercolors of the original 435 Audubon painted for “Birds of America” at the New York Historical Society, in New York City. Many of the copper plates used in the printmaking are across the street in the American Museum of Natural History (one of Seymour’s favorite places). It is also possible to see 18 original Audubon paintings in Key West, Florida at a small museum called the Audubon House and Tropical Gardens.
Audubon once wrote: "I never for a day gave up listening to the songs of our birds, or watching their peculiar habits, or delineating them in the best way I could."
John James Audobon is buried in what is now the Trinity Cemetery at 155th Street and Broadway in New York City. Audubon himself was the last private owner of that parcel of land, and had built an estate overlooking the Hudson River there. The property was eventually bought by the city, and his grave is marked by a large Celtic cross with likenesses of his work on either side.
Image: Iceland Falcon Falco rusticolus from plate 366 BIRDS OF AMERICA, John James Audubon, 1838.
Posted by: Liz Nealon
