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{{short description|French-American ornithologist (1785–1851)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = John James Audubon
| image = John James Audubon 1826.jpg
| caption =Portrait of Audubon by [[John Syme]], 1826
| birth_name = Jean-Jacques Rabin
| birth_date = {{birth date|1785|4|26}}
| birth_place = [[Les Cayes]], [[Saint-Domingue]] (now&nbsp;Haiti)
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1851|1|27|1785|4|26}}
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| citizenship = {{hlist|France|United States}}
| occupation = Artist, naturalist, ornithologist  
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Lucy Bakewell Audubon|Lucy Bakewell]]|1808|}}
| signature = Audubon signature.svg
|works=''[[The Birds of America]]''
}}

'''John James Audubon''' (born '''Jean-Jacques Rabin''', April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was a French-American [[Autodidacticism|self-trained]] artist, [[natural history|naturalist]], and  [[ornithology|ornithologist]]. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictorial record of all the bird species of North America.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Oxford illustrated encyclopedia |date=1985–1993 |publisher=Oxford University Press |last1=Judge |first1=Harry George |last2=Toyne  |first2=Anthony |isbn=0-19-869129-7 |location=Oxford [England] |pages=26 |oclc=11814265}}</ref> He was notable for his extensive studies documenting all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations, which depicted the birds in their natural habitats. His major work, a color-plate book titled ''[[The Birds of America]]'' (1827–1839), is considered one of the finest ornithological works ever completed. Audubon is also known for identifying 25 new species. He is the eponym of the [[National Audubon Society]], and his name adorns a large number of towns, neighborhoods, and streets across the [[United States]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.audubon.org/frontpage |access-date=August 6, 2020 |website=Audubon |language=en}}</ref> Dozens of scientific names first published by Audubon are still in use by the scientific community.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Avibase advanced search: [Author = "Audubon"] |url=https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/search.jsp?pg=search&isadv=yes&startstr=&startlang=&fam=&start=&qstr=&qtype=2&qstr2=&qtype=2&qlang=&qyears=&qauthors=Audubon&qinclsp=1 |access-date=August 6, 2020 |website=Avibase: The World Bird Database}}</ref> Audubon was accused during his life as well as posthumously of academic fraud, plagiarism, and scientific misconduct; and more recently criticized for involvement in slavery and his racist writings.<ref name="Uteuova">{{Cite news |last=Uteuova |first=Aliya |date=2024-06-06 |title=New York City Audubon changes name to distance itself from racist namesake |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/06/new-york-city-audubon-changes-name-nyc-bird-alliance |access-date=2024-06-06 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==Early life==

Audubon was born in [[Les Cayes]] in the French colony of [[Saint-Domingue]] (now [[Haiti]])<ref>Nelson, Randy F. ''The Almanac of American Letters''. Los Altos, California: William Kaufmann, Inc., 1981: 26. {{ISBN|0-86576-008-X}}</ref> on his father's [[Sugar plantations in the Caribbean|sugarcane plantation]]. He was the son of Lieutenant Jean Audubon, a French naval officer (and [[privateer]]) from the south of [[Duchy of Brittany|Brittany]],<ref name="rhodes"/> and his mistress, Jeanne Rabine,<ref>Sometimes, it is written "Rabin"</ref> a 27-year-old chambermaid from [[Les Touches]], Brittany (now in the modern region [[Pays de la Loire]]).<ref name="rhodes">[https://books.google.com/books?id=IWJ2uq2Lu1oC&q=Jeanne+Rabin+ Rhodes, Richard ''John James Audubon: The Making of an American''], New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004, p. 4, accessed April 26, 2011.</ref><ref name="Souder 2005, p. 18">Souder 2005, p. 18</ref> They named him Jean Rabin.<ref name="Souder 2005, p. 18"/> Another 1887 biographer has stated that his mother was a lady from a Louisiana plantation.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/popularsciencemo31newy |title=The Popular science monthly |date=1887 |publisher=[New York, Popular Science Pub. Co., etc.] |author=Various |editor=William J. Youmans |others=MBLWHOI Library}}</ref> His mother died when he was a few months old, as she had suffered from tropical disease since arriving on the island. His father already had an unknown number of [[mixed-race]] children (among them a daughter named Marie-Madeleine),<ref name="DeLatt, Carolyne E. 2008 page 21">{{Cite book |last=DeLatte |first=Carolyn E. |title=Lucy Audubon : a biography |date=2008 |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |isbn=978-0-8071-3381-1 |location=Baton Rouge |oclc=221151639}}</ref> some by his mixed-race housekeeper, Catherine "Sanitte" Bouffard<ref name="DeLatt, Carolyne E. 2008 page 21"/> (described as a [[quadroon]], meaning she was three-quarters European in ancestry).<ref>Rhodes, John James Audubon (2004), p. 6</ref> Following Jeanne Rabin's death, Audubon renewed his relationship with Sanitte Bouffard and had a daughter by her, named Muguet. Bouffard also took care of the infant boy Jean.<ref>Souder 2005, p. 19</ref>

The senior Audubon had commanded ships. During the [[American Revolution]], he was imprisoned by Britain. After his release, he helped the American cause.<ref>Alice Ford, ''Audubon By Himself'', The Natural History Press, Garden City, NY: 1969, p. 4</ref> He had long worked to save money and secure his family's future with real estate. Due to repeated uprisings of slaves in the Caribbean, he sold part of his plantation in Saint-Domingue in 1789 and purchased a 284-acre farm called [[Mill Grove]], 20 miles from [[Philadelphia]], to diversify his investments. Increasing tension in Saint-Domingue between the colonists and slaves, who greatly outnumbered them, convinced the senior Audubon to return to France, where he became a member of the [[French Republican Guard|Republican Guard]]. In 1788 he arranged for Jean and in 1791 for Muguet to be transported to France.<ref>Rhodes, JJ Audubon (2004), p. 6</ref><ref name="Souder 2005, p. 20">Souder 2005, p. 20</ref><ref>Shirley Streshinsky, ''Audubon: Life and Art in the American Wilderness'', Villard Books, New York, 1993, {{ISBN|0-679-40859-2}}, p. 13</ref>
[[File:La Gerbetière à Couëron 2.JPG|thumb|[[La Gerbetière]], mansion owned by Audubon's father in [[Couëron]], where young Audubon was raised]]
The children were raised in [[Couëron]], near [[Nantes]], France, by Audubon and his French wife, Anne Moynet Audubon, whom he had married years before his time in Saint-Domingue. In 1794 they formally adopted both the children to regularize their legal status in France.<ref name="Souder 2005, p. 20"/> They renamed the boy Jean-Jacques Fougère Audubon and the girl Rose.<ref>Stanley Clisby Arthur, ''Audubon" An Intimate Life of the American Woodsman'' (Pelican Publishing, 1937), p. 478</ref>

From his earliest days, the younger Audubon had an affinity for birds. "I felt an intimacy with them...bordering on frenzy [that] must accompany my steps through life."<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 22</ref> His father encouraged his interest in nature:
{{blockquote|He would point out the elegant movement of the birds, and the beauty and softness of their plumage. He called my attention to their show of pleasure or sense of danger, their perfect forms and splendid attire. He would speak of their departure and return with the seasons.<ref>Ford 1969, p. 3</ref>}}

In France during the years of the [[French Revolution]] and its aftermath, Audubon grew up to be a handsome and gregarious man. He played flute and violin, and learned to ride, [[fencing|fence]], and dance.<ref name="Rhodes 2004, p. 5">Rhodes 2004, p. 5</ref> Audubon enjoyed roaming in the woods, often returning with natural curiosities, including birds' eggs and nests, of which he made crude drawings.<ref>Streshinsky 1993, p. 14</ref> His father planned to make a seaman of his son. At twelve, Audubon went to military school and became a cabin boy. He quickly found out that he was susceptible to seasickness and not fond of mathematics or navigation. After failing the officer's qualification test, Audubon ended his incipient naval career. He returned to exploring fields again, focusing on birds.<ref>Streshinsky 1993, pp. 16–17</ref>

==Immigration to the United States==
[[File:41 Ruffed Grouse.jpg|thumb|Plate 41 of ''[[The Birds of America]]'' by Audubon, depicting [[ruffed grouse]]]]
In 1803, his father obtained a false passport so that Jean-Jacques could go to the United States to avoid conscription in the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. 18-year-old Jean-Jacques boarded ship, anglicizing his name to John James Audubon.<ref>Rhodes, ''John James Audubon'' (2004), pp. 3–4</ref> Jean Audubon and Claude Rozier arranged a business partnership for their sons John James Audubon and [[Jean Ferdinand Rozier]] to pursue lead mining in Pennsylvania at Audubon's Pennsylvania property of Mill Grove. The Audubon-Rozier partnership was based on Rozier's buying half of Jean Audubon's share of a plantation in Haiti, and lending money to the partnership as secured by half interest in the lead mining.<ref name="ReferenceA">Sharpe, Mary Rozier and James, Louis, ''Between the Gabouri, History of the Rozier Family'', 1981</ref><ref name="Rhodes 2004">Rhodes, ''John James Audubon'' (2004), p.</ref>
[[File:Long Haired Squirrel by John James Audubon.jpg|thumb|John James Audubon, ''Long Haired Squirrel'', {{circa|1841}}.]]
Audubon caught [[yellow fever]] upon arrival in New York City. The ship's captain placed him in a boarding house run by [[Quaker]] women who nursed Audubon to recovery and taught him English. He traveled with the family's Quaker lawyer to the Audubon family farm at Mill Grove.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pbio?750 |title=National Gallery of Art |publisher=Nga.gov |access-date=December 10, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412003638/http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pbio?750 |archive-date=April 12, 2010 }}</ref> The {{convert|284|acre|ha|adj=on}} homestead is located on the [[Perkiomen Creek]] a few miles from [[Valley Forge]].

Audubon lived with the tenants in the two-story stone house, in an area that he considered a paradise. "Hunting, fishing, drawing, and music occupied my every moment; cares I knew not, and cared naught about them."<ref name="Rhodes 2004, p. 5"/> Studying his surroundings, Audubon quickly learned the ornithologist's rule, which he wrote down as, "The nature of the place—whether high or low, moist or dry, whether sloping north or south, or bearing tall trees or low shrubs—generally gives hint as to its inhabitants."<ref>Ford 1969, p. 10</ref>
[[File:1 Wild Turkey.jpg|thumbnail|left|upright|Plate 1 of ''The Birds of America'' by Audubon depicting a [[wild turkey]]]]
His father hoped that the lead mines on the property could be commercially developed, as lead was an essential component of bullets. This could provide his son with a profitable occupation.<ref>Streshinsky 1993, p. 24</ref> At Mill Grove, Audubon met the owner of the nearby [[Fatland|Fatland Ford]] estate, William Bakewell, and his daughter [[Lucy Bakewell Audubon|Lucy Bakewell]].

Audubon set about to study American birds, determined to illustrate his findings in a more realistic manner than most artists did then.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 11</ref> He began drawing and painting birds, and recording their behavior. After an accidental fall into a creek, Audubon contracted a severe fever. He was nursed and recovered at Fatland Ford, with Lucy at his side.

Risking conscription in France, Audubon returned in 1805 to see his father and ask permission to marry. He also needed to discuss family business plans. While there, he met the naturalist and physician Charles-Marie D'Orbigny, who improved Audubon's [[taxidermy]] skills and taught him scientific methods of research.<ref>Streshinsky 1993, p. 39</ref> Although his return ship was overtaken by an English [[privateer]], Audubon and his hidden gold coins survived the encounter.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 32</ref>

Audubon resumed his bird studies and created his own nature museum, perhaps inspired by the great museum of natural history created by [[Charles Willson Peale]] in Philadelphia. Peale's bird exhibits were considered scientifically advanced. Audubon's room was brimming with birds' eggs, stuffed raccoons and opossums, fish, snakes, and other creatures. He had become proficient at specimen preparation and taxidermy.

Deeming the mining venture too risky, with his father's approval Audubon sold part of the Mill Grove farm, including the house and mine, and retaining some land for investment.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 38</ref>

== Banding experiment with eastern phoebes ==
In volume 2 of ''Ornithological Biography'' (1834), Audubon told a story from his childhood, 30 years after the events reportedly took place, that has since garnered him the label of "first bird bander in America".<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Gill |first=Frank |title=Ornithology |publisher=W. H. Freeman; Third edition |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7167-4983-7}}</ref> The story has since been exposed as likely apocryphal.<ref name=":1" /> In the spring of 1804, according to the story, Audubon discovered a nest of the "Pewee Flycatcher", now known as the [[eastern phoebe]] (''Sayornis phoebe''), in a small grotto on the property of Mill Grove. To determine whether the other phoebes on the property were "descended from the same stock", Audubon (1834:126) said that he tied [[silver thread]]s to the legs of five nestlings:{{blockquote|I took the whole family out, and blew off the [[exuvia]]e of the feathers from the nest. I attached light threads to their legs: these they invariably removed, either with their bills, or with the assistance of their parents. I renewed them, however, until I found the little fellows habituated to them; and at last, when they were about to leave the nest, I fixed a light silver thread to the leg of each, loose enough not to hurt the part, but so fastened that no exertions of theirs could remove it.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Audubon |first=John James |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/103785#page/162/mode/1up |title=Ornithological Biography, volume 2 |publisher=Adam & Charles Black |year=1834 |volume=2 |location=Edinburgh, Scotland}}</ref>}} He also said that he had "ample proof afterwards that the brood of young Pewees, raised in the cave, returned the following spring, and established themselves farther up on the creek, and among the outhouses in the neighbourhood … having caught several of these birds on the nest, [he] had the pleasure of finding that two of them had the little ring on the leg." However, multiple independent primary sources (including original, dated drawings of European species<ref>{{Cite web |title=Collection: John James Audubon letters and drawings {{!}} HOLLIS for |url=https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/24/resources/1254/digital_only |access-date=August 6, 2020 |website=hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu}}</ref>) demonstrate that Audubon was in France during the spring of 1805, not in Pennsylvania as he later claimed.<ref name=":1" /> Furthermore, Audubon's claim to have re-sighted 2 out of 5 of the banded phoebes as adults (i.e., a 40% rate of natal [[philopatry]]) has not been replicated by modern studies with much larger sample sizes (e.g., 1.6% rate among 549 nestlings banded; and 1.3% rate among 217 nestlings banded).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Weatherhead |first1=Patrick J. |last2=Forbes |first2=Mark R. L. |date=December 1, 1994 |title=Natal philopatry in passerine birds: genetic or ecological influences? |url=https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/5/4/426/203821 |journal=Behavioral Ecology |language=en |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=426–433 |doi=10.1093/beheco/5.4.426 |issn=1045-2249|url-access=subscription }}</ref> These facts cast doubt on the truth of Audubon's story.<ref name=":1" />

==Marriage and family==
[[File:Mrs. Audubon - wife of James Audubon.jpg|thumbnail|upright|Lucy Bakewell Audubon]]
[[File:Zenaida macrouraAWP17AA.jpg|thumb|upright|Plate from ''The Birds of America'' by Audubon of a Carolina pigeon (now called [[mourning dove]])]]

In 1808, Audubon moved to Kentucky, which was rapidly being settled. Six months later, he married Lucy Bakewell at her family estate, [[Fatland|Fatland Ford]], Pennsylvania, and took her the next day to Kentucky. The two  shared many common interests, and began to explore the natural world around them. Though their finances were tenuous, the Audubons started a family. They had two sons, Victor Gifford (1809–1860) and [[John Woodhouse Audubon]] (1812–1862), and two daughters who died while still young, Lucy at two years (1815–1817) and Rose at nine months (1819–1820).<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/audubon_j_timeline.html "John James Audubon Timeline"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170601095128/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/audubon_j_timeline.html |date=June 1, 2017 }}, ''American Masters'', PBS. Retrieved February 7, 2009.</ref> Both sons eventually helped publish their father's works. [[John Woodhouse Audubon|John W. Audubon]] became a naturalist, writer, and painter in his own right.<ref>{{cite book |title=Appletons' annual cyclopaedia and register of important events of the year: 1862 |year=1863 |publisher=D. Appleton & Company |location=New York |page=672 |url=https://archive.org/stream/1862appletonsan02newyuoft#page/n679/mode/1up}}</ref>

==Starting out in business==

Audubon and [[Jean Ferdinand Rozier]] moved their merchant business partnership west at various stages, ending ultimately in [[Ste. Genevieve, Missouri]], a former French colonial settlement west of the [[Mississippi River]] and south of [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]]. Shipping goods ahead, Audubon and Rozier started a [[general store]] in [[Louisville, Kentucky]] on the [[Ohio River]];{{when|date=September 2014}} the city had an increasingly important slave market and was the most important port between [[Pittsburgh]] and [[New Orleans]]. Soon he was drawing bird specimens again. He regularly burned his earlier efforts to force continuous improvement.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 55</ref> He also took detailed field notes to document his drawings.

Due to rising tensions with the British, President [[Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson]] ordered an embargo on British trade in 1808, hurting Audubon's trading business.<ref name="Streshinsky 1993, p. 64">Streshinsky 1993, p. 64</ref> In 1810, Audubon moved his business further west to the less competitive [[Henderson, Kentucky]], area. He and his small family took over an abandoned log cabin. In the fields and forests, Audubon wore typical frontier clothes and moccasins, having "a ball pouch, a buffalo horn filled with gunpowder, a butcher knife, and a tomahawk on his belt".<ref name="Streshinsky 1993, p. 64"/>

He frequently turned to hunting and fishing to feed his family, as business was slow. On a prospecting trip down the Ohio River with a load of goods, Audubon joined up with [[Shawnee]] and [[Osage Nation|Osage]] hunting parties, learning their methods, drawing specimens by the bonfire, and finally parting "like brethren".<ref>Rhodes 2004, pp. 83–85</ref> Audubon had great respect for [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]]: "Whenever I meet Indians, I feel the greatness of our Creator in all its splendor, for there I see the man naked from His hand and yet free from acquired sorrow."<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 166</ref> Audubon also admired the skill of Kentucky riflemen and the "regulators", citizen lawmen who created a kind of justice on the Kentucky frontier. In his travel notes, he claims to have encountered [[Daniel Boone]].<ref>Ford 1969, p. 24</ref>
The Audubon family owned several slaves while he was in Henderson, until they needed money at which point they were sold. Audubon was condemned contemporaneously by [[Abolitionism|abolitionists]]. Audubon was dismissive of abolitionists in both the US and the United Kingdom.<ref>"[https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/28/audubon-birds-enslaver-seattle-name-change/ The largest Audubon group yet is changing its name, rebuking an enslaver]", published July 28, 2022 in ''[[The Washington Post]]'', accessed August 17, 2022</ref>

Audubon and Rozier mutually agreed to end their partnership at Ste. Genevieve on April 6, 1811. Audubon had decided to work at ornithology and art and wanted to return to Lucy and their son in Kentucky. Rozier agreed to pay Audubon US$3,000 ({{Inflation|US|3000|1811|fmt=eq}}), with $1,000 in cash and the balance to be paid over time.<ref>Agreement from Francis Hobart Herrick, Ph.D., Sc.D.D., ''Audubon the Naturalist: A History of His Life and Time''. Appleton and Company, New York, London, 1917, p. 359.</ref><ref>Original hand-written receipt of the financial exchange per the Agreement, Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Missouri. "Ste. Genevieve April 6, 1811, $1,000.000, (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=1000000|start_year=1811}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) Six Months after date I promise to pay Mr. John Audubon or Orders One Thousand Dollars Value without (unreadable). Signed Ferdinand Rozier (signature torn off), Witnessed: John Lecite, John McAuthur"</ref><ref name="Rozier1890">{{cite book |last=Rozier |first=Firmin A. |title=History of the Early Settlement of the Mississippi Valley |year=1890}}</ref>

The terms of the dissolution of the partnership include those by Audubon:

{{blockquote|I John Audubon, having this day mutual consent with Ferdinand Rozier, dissolved and forever closed the partnership and firm of Audubon and Rozier, and having Received from said Ferdinand Rozier payment and notes to the full amount of my part of the goods and debts of the late firm of Audubon and Rozier, I the said John Audubon one of the firm aforesaid do hereby release and forever quit claim to all and any interest which I have or may have in the stock on hand and debts due to the late firm of Audubon and Rozier assign, transfer and set over to said Ferdinand Rozier, all my rights, titles, claims and interest in the goods, merchandise and debts due to the late firm of Audubon and Rozier, and do hereby authorize and empower him for my part, to collect the same in any manner what ever either privately or by suit or suits in law or equity hereby declaring him sole and absolute proprietor and rightful owner of all goods, merchandise and debts of this firm aforesaid, as completely as they were the goods and property of the late firm Audubon and Rozier.

In witness thereof I have set my hand and seal this Sixth day of April 1811

John Audubon

Ed D. DeVillamonte}}

[[File:John James Audubon; his house. Colour line block by Richards Wellcome V0018684.jpg|thumbnail|John James Audubon house, Henderson, Kentucky.]]
Audubon was working in Missouri and out riding when the [[1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes|1811 New Madrid earthquake]] struck on December 16, 1811, followed by a moment magnitude 7.4 aftershock on the same day. Two additional earthquakes of similar magnitude followed in January and February 1812. When Audubon reached his house, he was relieved to find no major damage, but the area was shaken by [[aftershocks]] for months.<ref>Ford 1969, p. 56</ref> The quake is estimated to have ranked from 8.4 to 8.8 on today's [[moment magnitude scale]] of severity, stronger than the [[San Francisco earthquake of 1906]] which is estimated at 7.8. Audubon writes that while on horseback, he first believed the distant rumbling to be the sound of a [[tornado]],

{{blockquote|but the animal knew better than I what was forthcoming, and instead of going faster, so nearly stopped that I remarked he placed one foot after another on the ground with as much precaution as if walking on a smooth piece of ice. I thought he had suddenly foundered, and, speaking to him, was on point of dismounting and leading him, when he all of a sudden fell a-groaning piteously, hung his head, spread out his forelegs, as if to save himself from falling, and stood stock still, continuing to groan. I thought my horse was about to die, and would have sprung from his back had a minute more elapsed; but as that instant all the shrubs and trees began to move from their very roots, the ground rose and fell in successive furrows, like the ruffled water of a lake, and I became bewildered in my ideas, as I too plainly discovered, that all this awful commotion was the result of an earthquake. I had never witnessed anything of the kind before, although like every person, I knew earthquakes by description. But what is description compared to reality! Who can tell the sensations which I experienced when I found myself rocking, as it were, upon my horse, and with him moving to and fro like a child in a cradle, with the most imminent danger around me.<ref name=postbook/>}}

He noted that as the earthquake retreated, "the air was filled with an extremely disagreeable sulphurous odor."<ref>Ford 1969, p. 57</ref>

{{anchor|family}}
==Citizenship and debt==
[[File:Cinnamon bear by J T Bowen after John James Audubon.jpg|thumbnail|A cinnamon bear by J.T. Bowen after Audubon]]
During a visit to Philadelphia in 1812 following Congress' declaration of war against Great Britain, Audubon became an American citizen and had to give up his French citizenship.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 105</ref> After his return to Kentucky, he found that rats had eaten his entire collection of more than 200 drawings. After weeks of [[depression (mood)|depression]], he took to the field again, determined to re-do his drawings to an even higher standard.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 116</ref>

The [[War of 1812]] upset Audubon's plans to move his business to [[New Orleans]]. He formed a partnership with Lucy's brother and built up their trade in Henderson. Between 1812 and the [[Panic of 1819]], times were good. Audubon bought land and [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]], founded a flour mill, and enjoyed his growing family. After 1819, Audubon went bankrupt and was thrown into jail for debt. The little money he earned was from drawing portraits, particularly [[deathbed portrait|death-bed sketches]], greatly esteemed by country folk before photography.<ref>Ford 1969, p. 85</ref> He wrote, "[M]y heart was sorely heavy, for scarcely had I enough to keep my dear ones alive; and yet through these dark days I was being led to the development of the talents I loved."<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 143</ref>

==Early ornithological career==
[[File:181 Goldon Eagle.jpg|thumb|upright|Plate 181 of ''The Birds of America'' by Audubon depicting a [[golden eagle]], 1833–34]]

Audubon worked for a brief time as the first paid employee of the Western History Society, now known as The Museum of Natural History at The [[Cincinnati Museum Center]].<ref>{{cite web |title=An exhibition opening for In the Audubon Tradition |url=https://www.cincymuseum.org/ruthven/ |website=Cincy Museum Center |access-date=November 7, 2019}}</ref> He then traveled south on the Mississippi with his gun, paintbox, and assistant [[Joseph Mason (artist)|Joseph Mason]], who stayed with him from October 1820 to August 1822 and painted the plant life backgrounds of many of Audubon's bird studies. He was committed to find and paint all the birds of North America for eventual publication. His goal was to surpass the earlier ornithological work of poet-naturalist [[Alexander Wilson (ornithologist)|Alexander Wilson]].<ref>Ford 1969, p. 25</ref> Though he could not afford to buy Wilson's work, Audubon used it to guide him when he had access to a copy.

In 1818, [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]] visited Kentucky and the Ohio River valley to study fishes and was a guest of Audubon. In the middle of the night, Rafinesque noticed a bat in his room and thought it was a new species. He happened to grab Audubon's favourite violin in an effort to knock the bat down, resulting in the destruction of the violin. Audubon reportedly took revenge by showing drawings and describing some fictitious fishes and rodents to Rafinesque; Rafinesque gave scientific names to some of these fishes in his ''Ichthyologia Ohiensis''.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Audubon's hoax: Ohio River fishes described by Rafinesque |author=Markle, Douglas F. |journal=Archives of Natural History |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=439–447 |year=1997 |doi=10.3366/anh.1997.24.3.439}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite journal |journal=Archives of Natural History |volume=43 |issue=1 |year=2016 |pages=95–108 |doi=10.3366/anh.2016.0349 |title=Pranked by Audubon: Constantine S. Rafinesque's description of John James Audubon's imaginary Kentucky mammals |author=Woodman, Neal |bibcode=2016ArcNH..43...95W |s2cid=87344412 |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/28626/2016%20Pranked%20by%20Audubon.pdf}}</ref>

On October 12, 1820, Audubon traveled into [[Mississippi]], [[Alabama]], and [[Florida]] in search of ornithological specimens. He traveled with [[George Lehman]], a professional Swiss landscape artist. The following summer, he moved upriver to the [[Audubon State Historic Site|Oakley Plantation]] in [[Feliciana Parish, Louisiana]], where he taught drawing to Eliza Pirrie, the young daughter of the owners. Though low-paying, the job was ideal, as it afforded him much time to roam and paint in the woods. (The plantation has been preserved as the [[Audubon State Historic Site]], and is located at 11788 Highway 965, between [[Jackson, Louisiana|Jackson]] and [[St. Francisville, Louisiana|St. Francisville]].)

Audubon called his future work ''[[The Birds of America]]''. He attempted to paint one page each day. Painting with newly discovered technique, he decided his earlier works were inferior and re-did them.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 209</ref> He hired hunters to gather specimens for him. Audubon realized the ambitious project would take him away from his family for months at a time.

Audubon sometimes used his drawing talent to trade for goods or sell small works to raise cash. He made charcoal portraits on demand at $5 each and gave drawing lessons.<ref>Streshinsky 1993, p. 102</ref> In 1823, Audubon took lessons in oil painting technique from John Steen, a teacher of American landscape, and history painter [[Thomas Cole]]. Though he did not use oils much for his bird work, Audubon earned good money painting oil portraits for patrons along the Mississippi. (Audubon's account reveals that he learned oil painting in December 1822 from Jacob Stein, an itinerant portrait artist. After they had enjoyed all the portrait patronage to be expected in [[Natchez, Mississippi]], during January–March 1823, they resolved to travel together as perambulating portrait-artists.)<ref name="Punke, p. 21">Punke, p. 21</ref><ref name="Arthur, pp. 256-7">Arthur, pp. 256–57</ref> During this period (1822–1823), Audubon also worked as an instructor at [[Jefferson College (Mississippi)|Jefferson College]] in [[Washington, Mississippi]].

Lucy became the steady breadwinner for the couple and their two young sons. Trained as a teacher, she conducted classes for children in their home. Later she was hired as a local teacher in Louisiana. She boarded with their children at the home of a wealthy plantation owner, as was often the custom of the time.<ref name="Punke, p. 21"/><ref name="Arthur, pp. 258-9">Arthur, pp. 258–59</ref>

In 1824, Audubon returned to Philadelphia to seek a publisher for his bird drawings. He took oil painting lessons from [[Thomas Sully]] and met [[Charles Lucien Bonaparte|Charles Bonaparte]], who admired his work and recommended he go to Europe to have his bird drawings engraved.<ref>Punke, p. 225</ref> Audubon was nominated for membership at the [[Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University|Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia]] by [[Charles Alexandre Lesueur]], [[Reuben Haines III|Reuben Haines]], and [[Isaiah Lukens]], on July 27, 1824.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Halley |first=Matthew R. |date=2018 |title=Lost Tales of American Ornithology: Reuben Haines and the Canada Geese of Wyck (1818–1828) |url=https://dvoc.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Cassinia76_52_63_Halley.pdf |journal=Cassinia |volume=76 |pages=63}}</ref> However, he failed to gather enough support, and his nomination was rejected by vote on August 31, 1824;<ref name=":7" /> around the same time accusations of scientific misconduct were levied by Alexander Lawson and others.<ref name=":8" />

==''The Birds of America''==
{{main|The Birds of America}}
[[File:Campephilus principalisAWP066AA2.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Plate from ''The Birds of America'', featuring the extinct [[ivory-billed woodpecker]]]]
With his wife's support, in 1826 at age 41, Audubon took his growing collection of work to England. He sailed from New Orleans to [[Liverpool]] on the cotton-hauling ship ''Delos'', reaching England in the autumn of 1826 with his portfolio of over 300 drawings.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 237</ref> With letters of introduction to prominent Englishmen, and paintings of imaginary species including the "Bird of Washington",<ref name=":2" /> Audubon gained their quick attention. "I have been received here in a manner not to be expected during my highest enthusiastic hopes."<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 261</ref>
[[File:Brooklyn Museum - American Flamingo - John J. Audubon.jpg|thumb|upright|An [[American flamingo]] by Audubon, Brooklyn Museum]]
[[File:Brooklyn Museum - American Crow - John J. Audubon.jpg|thumb|upright|An [[American crow]] by Audubon, Brooklyn Museum]]
The British could not get enough of Audubon's images of backwoods America and its natural attractions. He met with great acceptance as he toured around England and Scotland, and was lionized as "the American woodsman". He raised enough money to begin publishing his ''[[The Birds of America]]''. This monumental work consists of 435 hand-colored, life-size prints of 497 bird species, made from engraved copper plates of various sizes depending on the size of the image. They were printed on sheets measuring about {{convert|39 by 26|in|mm}}.<ref name="Rhodes 2004, p. 403">Rhodes 2004, p. 403</ref> The work illustrates slightly more than 700 North American bird species, of which some were based on specimens collected by fellow ornithologist [[John Kirk Townsend]] on his journey across America with [[Thomas Nuttall]] in 1834 as part of [[Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth]]'s second expedition across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.<ref>Mearns, B. & R., ''John Kirk Townsend: Collector of Audubon's Western Birds and Mammals'' (2007)</ref><ref>Townsend, John Kirk, ''Excursion to the Oregon'', Edinburgh: W. and R. Chambers, 1846</ref>

The pages were organized for artistic effect and contrasting interest, as if the reader were taking a visual tour. (Some critics thought he should have organized the plates in Linnaean order as befitting a "serious" ornithological treatise.)<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 303</ref> The first and perhaps most famous plate was the wild turkey. Among the earliest plates printed was the "Bird of Washington", which generated favorable publicity for Audubon as his first discovery of a new species. However, no specimen of the species has ever been found, and research published in 2020 argues that this plate was a mixture of plagiarism and ornithological fraud.<ref name="Halley Bird of Washington">{{cite journal |last1=Halley |first1=Matthew R. |title=Audubon's Bird of Washington: unravelling the fraud that launched The birds of America |journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club |date=June 22, 2020 |volume=140 |issue=2 |pages=110–141 |doi=10.25226/bboc.v140i2.2020.a3 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The cost of printing the entire work was $115,640 (over $2,000,000 today), paid for from advance subscriptions, exhibitions, oil painting commissions, and animal skins, which Audubon hunted and sold.<ref name="Rhodes 2004, p. 403"/> Audubon's great work was a remarkable accomplishment. It took more than 14 years of field observations and drawings, plus his single-handed management and promotion of the project to make it a success. A reviewer wrote,

{{blockquote|All anxieties and fears which overshadowed his work in its beginning had passed away. The prophecies of kind but overprudent friends, who did not understand his self-sustaining energy, had proved untrue; the malicious hope of his enemies, for even the gentle lover of nature has enemies, had been disappointed; he had secured a commanding place in the respect and gratitude of men.<ref>Streshinsky 1993, p. 328</ref>}}

Colorists applied each color in assembly-line fashion (over fifty were hired for the work).<ref>Rhodes 2004, pp. 273, 389</ref> The original edition was engraved in [[aquatint]] by Robert [[Havell family|Havell]] Jr., who took over the task after the first ten plates engraved by [[W. H. Lizars]] were deemed inadequate. Known as the Double Elephant folio for its [[double elephant]] paper size, it is often regarded as the greatest picture book ever produced and the finest aquatint work. By the 1830s the aquatint process had been largely superseded by [[lithography]].<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 300</ref> A contemporary French critic wrote, "A magic power transported us into the forests which for so many years this man of genius has trod. Learned and ignorant alike were astonished at the spectacle ... It is a real and palpable vision of the New World."<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 279</ref>
[[File:Brooklyn Museum - Green Heron - John J. Audubon.jpg|thumb|left|A [[green heron]] by Audubon, Brooklyn Museum]]
Audubon sold oil-painted copies of the drawings to make extra money and publicize the book. A potential publisher had Audubon's portrait painted by John Syme, who clothed the naturalist in frontier clothes; the portrait was hung at the entrance of his exhibitions, promoting his rustic image. The painting is now held in the [[White House]] art collection, and is not frequently displayed.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 276</ref> The [[New-York Historical Society]] holds all 435 of the preparatory watercolors for ''The Birds of America''. Lucy Audubon sold them to the society after her husband's death. All but 80 of the original copper plates were melted down when Lucy Audubon, desperate for money, sold them for scrap to the [[Phelps Dodge|Phelps Dodge Corporation]].<ref>[http://www.cmnh.org/site/AboutUs_PressRoom_Feb2007AudubonChronicle.aspx "John James Audubon Chronicle"], Cleveland Museum of Natural History, press release, February 1, 2007 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720043115/http://www.cmnh.org/site/AboutUs_PressRoom_Feb2007AudubonChronicle.aspx |date=July 20, 2008 }}</ref>

King [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] was among the avid fans of Audubon and subscribed to support publication of the book. Britain's [[Royal Society]] recognized Audubon's achievement by electing him as a fellow. He was the second American to be elected after statesman [[Benjamin Franklin]]. While in [[Edinburgh]] to seek subscribers for the book, Audubon gave a demonstration of his method of supporting birds with wire at professor [[Robert Jameson]]'s [[Wernerian Natural History Society|Wernerian Natural History Association]]. Student [[Charles Darwin]] was in the audience. Audubon also visited the dissecting theatre of the anatomist [[Robert Knox (surgeon)|Robert Knox]]. Audubon was also successful in France, gaining the King and several of the nobility as subscribers.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 316</ref>
[[File:Large Audubon Spoonbill.jpg|alt=Roseate Spoonbill|thumb|A painting of the [[roseate spoonbill]] by John James Audubon. Plate CCCXXI.]]
''The Birds of America'' became very popular during Europe's Romantic era.<ref name="audubon.org">National Audubon Society Inc. (n.d.) ''John James Audubon'' Retrieved from [http://www.audubon.org/john-james-audubon]</ref> Audubon's dramatic portraits of birds appealed to people in this period's fascination with natural history.<ref name="audubon.org"/><ref>Lyons, M. (2011). ''Books A Living History''. Los Angeles, California: Getty Publications.</ref><ref>Lyons 2011, pp. 135–36</ref>

==Later career==
[[File:Falco rusticolusAWP366AAA.jpg|thumb|upright|Two white [[gyrfalcon]]s by Audubon]]
[[File:Lucy Bakewell Audubon.jpg|thumb|upright|Lucy Audubon {{circa|1870}}]]

Audubon returned to America in 1829 to complete more drawings for his magnum opus. He also hunted animals and shipped the valued skins to British friends. He was reunited with his family. After settling business affairs, Lucy accompanied him back to England. Audubon found that during his absence, he had lost some subscribers due to the uneven quality of coloring of the plates. Others were in arrears in their payments. His engraver fixed the plates and Audubon reassured subscribers, but a few begged off. He responded, "''The Birds of America'' will then raise in value as much as they are now depreciated by certain fools and envious persons."<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 392</ref> He was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web |title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter A |url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterA.pdf |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=April 27, 2011}}</ref> in 1830 and to the [[American Philosophical Society]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=1831&year-max=1831&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=April 8, 2021 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> in 1831.

He followed ''The Birds of America'' with a sequel ''Ornithological Biographies''. This was a collection of life histories of each species written with Scottish ornithologist [[William MacGillivray]]. The two books were printed separately to avoid a British law requiring copies of all publications with text to be deposited in [[copyright libraries]], a huge financial burden for the self-published Audubon.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 273</ref> Both books were published between 1827 and 1839.

During the 1830s, Audubon continued making expeditions in North America. During a trip to [[Key West]], a companion wrote in a newspaper article, "Mr. Audubon is the most enthusiastic and indefatigable man I ever knew ... Mr. Audubon was neither dispirited by heat, fatigue, or bad luck ... he rose every morning at 3&nbsp;o'clock and went out ... until 1&nbsp;o'clock." Then he would draw the rest of the day before returning to the field in the evening, a routine he kept up for weeks and months.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 366</ref> In the posthumously published book ''The Life of John James Audubon The Naturalist'',<ref name=postbook>{{Cite book |title=The Life of John James Audubon the Naturalist |editor=His widow |publisher=G. P. Putnam & Son |location=New York |year=1869 |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofjohnjamesa00audub}}</ref> edited by his widow and derived primarily from his notes, Audubon related visiting the northeastern Florida coastal sugar plantation of John Joachim Bulow for Christmas 1831/early January 1832. It was started by his father and at 4,675 acres, was the largest in East Florida.<ref name="memory"/> Bulow had a sugar mill built there under direction of a Scottish engineer, who accompanied Audubon on an excursion in the region. The mill was destroyed in 1836 in the [[Second Seminole War]]. The plantation site is preserved today as the [[Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park]].<ref name="memory">[https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/116287 "Dedication ceremonies for Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park – Bunnell, Florida"], Florida Memory, accessed March 14, 2015.</ref>

In March 1832, Audubon booked passage at [[St. Augustine, Florida]], aboard the schooner ''Agnes'', bound for [[Charleston, South Carolina]]. A gale forced the vessel to berth at the mouth of the [[Savannah River]], where an officer of the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] on [[Cockspur Island]] where [[Fort Pulaski]] was under construction, transported Audubon upstream to [[Savannah, Georgia]], on their barge. Just as he was about to board a Charleston-bound stage coach, he remembered William Gaston, a Savannah resident who had once befriended him. Audubon stayed at [[21 West Bay Street|City Hotel]], and the next day sought out and found the acquaintance, "who showed but little enthusiasm for his ''Birds of America''" and who doubted that the book would sell a single copy in the city.<ref name=bell>''Ease and Elegance, Madeira and Murder: The Social Life of Savannah's City Hotel'', Malcolm Bell, Jr. (1992), p. 558</ref> A dejected Audubon continued to talk to the merchant and a mutual friend who, by chance, had appeared. The merchant, having further considered his position, said, "I subscribe to your work", gave him $200 for the first volume, and promised to act as his agent in finding additional subscriptions.<ref name=bell/>

In 1833, Audubon sailed north from Maine, accompanied by his son John, and five other young colleagues, to explore the [[ornithology]] of [[Labrador]]. On the return voyage, their ship ''Ripley'' made a stop at St. George's, [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]]. There Audubon and his assistants documented 36 species of birds.<ref>Tuck, Leslie. Montevecchi, William. Nuttall Ornithological Club. ''Newfoundland Birds, Exploitation, Study, Conservation'', Harvard University Press, 1987.</ref>

Audubon painted some of his works while staying at the Key West house and gardens of Capt. John H. Geiger. This site was preserved as the [[Audubon House and Tropical Gardens]].<ref>Cox, C. 1983. ''A Key West Companion''. Macmillan. pp. 49–51. {{ISBN|0-312-45183-0}}</ref>

In 1841, having finished the ''Ornithological Biographies'', Audubon returned to the United States with his family. He bought an estate on the [[Hudson River]] in northern Manhattan. (The roughly 20-acre estate came to be known as [[Audubon Park Historic District, New York City|Audubon Park]] in the 1860s when Audubon's widow began selling off parcels of the estate for the development of free-standing single family homes.)<ref>Most, Jennifer L. et al. [http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/audubonparkfinal.pdf ''Audubon Park Historic District Designation Report''] [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] (May 12, 2009), p. 3, paragraph 2.</ref> Between 1840 and 1844, he published an [[octavo]] edition of ''The Birds of America'', with 65 additional plates.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/61411 |title=The Birds of America: From Drawings Made in the United States and their Territories |last=Audubon |first=John James |publisher=J.B. Chevalier |year=1840–1844 |location=New York |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library}}</ref> Printed in standard format to be more affordable than the oversize British edition, it earned $36,000 and was purchased by 1100 subscribers.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 430</ref> Audubon spent much time on "subscription-gathering trips", drumming up sales of the octavo edition, as he hoped to leave his family a sizeable income.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chancellor |first=John |date=1978 |title=Audubon : A Biography |location=New York |publisher=Viking Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/audubonbiography00chan/page/210 210] |isbn=978-0-670-14053-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/audubonbiography00chan/page/210}}</ref>

==Death==
Audubon made some excursions out West where he hoped to record Western species he had missed, but his health began to fail. In 1848, he manifested signs of senility or possibly [[dementia]] from what is now called [[Alzheimer's disease]], his "noble mind in ruins".<ref>Streshinsky 1993, p. 361</ref> He died at his family home in northern Manhattan on January 27, 1851. Audubon is buried in the graveyard at the [[Church of the Intercession, New York|Church of the Intercession]] in the [[Trinity Church Cemetery]] and Mausoleum at 155th Street and Broadway in [[Manhattan]], near his home. An imposing monument in his honor was erected at the cemetery, which is now recognized as part of the [[Heritage Rose District of NYC]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mbpo.org/free_details.asp?ID=190 |title=What is the Heritage Rose District of NYC? |publisher=mbpo.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718112844/http://www.mbpo.org/free_details.asp?ID=190 |archive-date=July 18, 2011 }}</ref>

Audubon's final work dealt with [[mammal]]s; he prepared ''The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America'' (1845–1849) in collaboration with his good friend [[John Bachman|Rev. John Bachman]] of [[Charleston, South Carolina]], who supplied much of the scientific text. His son, John Woodhouse Audubon, drew most of the plates. The work was completed by Audubon's sons, and the second volume was published posthumously in 1851.

==Art and methods==

Audubon developed his own methods for drawing birds. First, he killed them using fine shot. He then used wires to prop them into a natural position, unlike the common method of many ornithologists, who prepared and stuffed the specimens into a rigid pose. When working on a major specimen like an eagle, he would spend up to four 15-hour days, preparing, studying, and drawing it.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 375</ref> His paintings of birds are set true-to-life in their natural habitat. He often portrayed them as if caught in motion, especially feeding or hunting. This was in stark contrast to the stiff representations of birds by his contemporaries, such as [[Alexander Wilson (ornithologist)|Alexander Wilson]]. Audubon based his paintings on his extensive field observations. He worked primarily with watercolor early on. He added colored chalk or pastel to add softness to feathers, especially those of owls and herons.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 163</ref> He employed multiple layers of watercoloring, and sometimes used [[gouache]]. All species were drawn life size which accounts for the contorted poses of the larger birds as Audubon strove to fit them within the page size.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gardner |first=Albert TenEyck |date=1963 |title=John James Audubon and Campephilus Principalis |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3257944 |journal=The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin |volume=21 |issue=9 |pages=309–316 |doi=10.2307/3257944 |jstor=3257944 |issn=0026-1521|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Smaller species were usually placed on branches with berries, fruit, and flowers. He used several birds in a drawing to present all views of anatomy and wings. Larger birds were often placed in their ground habitat or perching on stumps. At times, as with woodpeckers, he combined several species on one page to offer contrasting features. He frequently depicted the birds' nests and eggs, and occasionally natural predators, such as snakes. He usually illustrated male and female variations, and sometimes juveniles. In later drawings, Audubon used assistants to render the habitat for him. In addition to faithful renderings of anatomy, Audubon also employed carefully constructed composition, drama, and slightly exaggerated poses to achieve artistic as well as scientific effects.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

<gallery widths="200px" heights="145px">
File:John James Audubons Plate 76 - Birds of America (Virginian Partridge).jpg|Plate 76 of ''The Birds of America'' by Audubon showing a [[northern bobwhite]] under attack by a young [[red-shouldered hawk]], painted 1825
File:John James Audubons Birds of America - Plate 76 (Detail).jpg|Detail from the adjacent image
</gallery>

==Dispute over accuracy==
The success of ''Birds of America'' has been marred by numerous accusations of [[plagiarism]], [[Scientific misconduct|scientific fraud]], and deliberate manipulation of the primary record.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Halley |first=Matthew R. |date=2018 |title=Audubon's famous banding experiment: fact or fiction? |journal=Archives of Natural History |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=118–121 |doi=10.3366/anh.2018.0487}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Halley |first=Matthew R. |date=June 2020 |title=Audubon's Bird of Washington: unravelling the fraud that launched The birds of America |journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club |volume=140 |issue=2 |pages=110–141 |doi=10.25226/bboc.v140i2.2020.a3 |issn=0007-1595 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Ord |first=George |date=1840 |title=Minutes from the Stated Meeting, September 18 [1840] |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/107383#page/282/mode/1up |journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |volume=1 |pages=272}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Dunlap |first=William |title=History of the rise and progress of the arts of design in the United States, Volume 2 |publisher=George P. Scott & Co., New York |year=1834 |location=New York, NY}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Hunter |first=Clark |title=The Life and Letters of Alexander Wilson |publisher=Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-87169-154-5 |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last=Halley |first=Matthew R. |date=6 September 2022 |title=Audubon's diary transcripts were doctored to support his false claim of personally discovering Lincoln's Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii (Audubon, 1834) |journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club |volume=142 |issue=3 |pages=329–342 |doi=10.25226/bboc.v142i3.2022.a6 |s2cid=252053685 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Research has uncovered that Audubon falsified (and fabricated) scientific data,<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=MARKLE |first=DOUGLAS F. |date=October 1, 1997 |title=Audubon's hoax: Ohio River fishes described by Rafinesque |journal=Archives of Natural History |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=439–447 |doi=10.3366/anh.1997.24.3.439 |issn=0260-9541}}</ref> published fraudulent data and images in scientific journals and commercial books,<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":9" /> invented new species to impress potential subscribers<ref name=":2" /> and to "prank" rivals,<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /> and most likely stole the holotype specimen of [[Harris's hawk]] (''Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi'') before pretending not to know its collector, who was one of his subscribers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fries |first=Waldemar H. |title=The Double Elephant Folio |publisher=Zenaida Publishing Co. |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-9770829-0-2}}</ref> He failed to credit work by Joseph Mason, prompting a series of articles in 1835 by critic [[John Neal]] questioning Audubon's honesty and trustworthiness.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Richards |first=Irving T. |date=May 1934 |title=Audubon, Joseph R. Mason, and John Neal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2919790 |journal=American Literature |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=122–140 |doi=10.2307/2919790 |jstor=2919790|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Audubon also repeatedly lied about the details of his autobiography, including the place and circumstances of his birth.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=DALLETT |first=FRANCIS JAMES |date=1959 |title=Citizen Audubon: A Documentary Discovery |journal=The Princeton University Library Chronicle |volume=21 |issue=1/2 |pages=89–93 |doi=10.2307/26409602 |jstor=26409602 |issn=0032-8456}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Olson |first=Roberta J. M.|author-link=Roberta Olson |title=Hiding in Plain Sight: New Evidence About the Birth, Identity, and Strategic Pseudonyms of John James Audubon |date=September 2021 |journal=Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology |volume=163 |issue=4 |pages=129–150 |doi=10.3099/MCZ70 |s2cid=237392346 |issn=0027-4100|doi-access=free }}</ref> His diaries, which might have cleared up some of these issues, were destroyed in 1895 by his granddaughter, Maria R. Audubon, who published a doctored version that realigned the "primary" record with some of his false narratives.<ref name=":9" /> Maria Audubon admitted to a biographer that she had "copied from it all [she] ever meant to give to the public" and then burned the original journals herself.

The litany of misconduct in Audubon's scientific career has drawn comparisons to others such as [[Richard Meinertzhagen]].<ref name=":2" /> Similar to early biographies of Meinertzhagen, Audubon's scientific misconduct has been repeatedly ignored and/or played down by biographers,<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" /> who defend ''Ornithological Biography'' as a "valuable resource and a very good read".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nobles |first=Gregory |date=July 31, 2020 |title=The Myth of John James Audubon |url=https://www.audubon.org/news/the-myth-john-james-audubon |website=Audubon.org}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:John James Audubon2.jpg|thumb|upright|Audubon in later years, {{circa|1850}}]]
Audubon's influence on ornithology and natural history was far reaching. Nearly all later ornithological works were inspired by his artistry and high standards. [[Charles Darwin]] cited Audubon three times in ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' and also in later works.<ref>Rhodes 2004, p. 306</ref> Despite some errors in field observations, he made a significant contribution to the understanding of bird anatomy and behavior through his field notes. ''The Birds of America'' is still considered one of the greatest examples of book art. Audubon discovered 25 new species and 12 new subspecies.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/john-james-audubon-drawn-from-nature/106/ "John James Audubon: Drawn from Nature"], ''American Masters'', PBS. Retrieved February 7, 2009.</ref>
* He was elected to the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]], the [[Linnean Society]], and the [[Royal Society]] in recognition of his contributions.
* The homestead Mill Grove in [[Audubon, Pennsylvania]], is open to the public and contains a museum presenting all his major works, including ''The Birds of America''.
* The Audubon Museum at [[John James Audubon State Park]] in [[Henderson, Kentucky]], houses many of Audubon's original [[watercolor]]s, oils, [[engraving]]s and personal memorabilia.
* In 1905, the [[National Audubon Society]] was incorporated and named in his honor. Its mission "is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds ..."
* He was honored in 1940 by the US Post Office with a 1 cent Famous Americans Series [[postage stamp]]; the [https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/us-874-mnh-1-cent-john-james-audubon-american-scientist/37565631 stamp is green].
* He was honored by the [[United States Postal Service]] with a 22¢ [[Great Americans series]] [[postage stamp]].
* On December 6, 2010, a copy of ''The Birds of America'' was sold at a [[Sotheby's]] auction for $11.5&nbsp;million, the second highest price for a single printed book.<ref>{{cite news |last=Van Biema |first=David |title=Bay Psalm Book fetches $14.2 million in record auction |url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/02/4583143/bay-psalm-book-fetches-142-million.html#.UsdAu9JDtBk |newspaper=charlotteobserver.com |date=January 2, 2014 |access-date=January 3, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104021722/http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/02/4583143/bay-psalm-book-fetches-142-million.html#.UsdAu9JDtBk |archive-date=January 4, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* On April 26, 2011, [[Google]] celebrated his 226th birthday by displaying a special [[Google Doodle]] on its global homepage.<ref>{{cite news |author=Ben Quinn |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/apr/26/john-james-audubon-google-doodle |title=John James Audubon's birthday celebrated by Google doodle |newspaper=Guardian |date=November 26, 2008 |access-date=April 26, 2011}}</ref>
* Audubon's life and contributions to science and art was the subject of the 2017 film [[Audubon (film)|''Audubon'']].
* Since 2022, the National Audubon Society has been [[Audubon#Namesake controversy|undergoing discussion]] about changing their name to distance themselves from Audubon's legacy of enslavement. Several local chapters, including Seattle, Chicago, Portland and New York City, have changed their names, while the board of the national body voted against doing so in 2023.<ref name="Uteuova"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=McGrady |first=Clyde |date=2023-08-07 |title=Is Social Justice for the Birds? Audubon Attempts an Answer. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/07/us/audubon-society-birding-racism.html |access-date=2024-06-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-26 |title=Seattle Audubon no longer wants to be named after racist who left 'shameful legacy' |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-audubon-will-change-its-name-severing-tie-to-slave-owner/ |access-date=2024-06-06 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Audubon in popular culture===
[[File:John James Audubon - Japanese woodcut.jpg|thumb|Audubon discovers that his work has been eaten by a rat, in a Japanese woodcut [[Yokohama-e|depicting Western people]] from ''Lives of Great People of the Occident'', published by the [[Japanese Ministry of Education]] in 1873.|alt=A woodcut in Ukiyo-e style depicting a man with moustache and sideburns kneeling and opening a trunk. He watches a rat running away.]]
Audubon is the subject of the 1969 book-length poem, ''Audubon: A Vision'' by [[Robert Penn Warren]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Robert Penn Warren |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBMN6gmiA6EC&q=robert+penn+warren+audubon |title=The Collected Works of Robert Penn Warren |access-date=October 26, 2014 |isbn=978-0-8071-2333-1 |date=October 1, 1998| publisher=LSU Press }}</ref> [[Stephen Vincent Benét]], with his wife Rosemary Benét, included a poem about Audubon in the children's poetry book ''A Book of Americans''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benét |first1=Stephen Vincent |title=A Book of Americans |date=1987 |publisher=Henry Holt and Co. |isbn=0-8050-0284-7 |edition=Reprint |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofamericans0000bene}}</ref>

Audubon's 1833 trip to Labrador is the subject of the novel ''Creation'' by [[Katherine Govier]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Govier |first1=Katherine |title=Creation |date=2002 |publisher=Overlook Press |location=New York |isbn=1-58567-410-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/creationnovel00govi}}</ref> Audubon and his wife, Lucy, are the chief characters in the "June" section of  the [[Maureen Howard]] novel ''Big as Life: Three Tales for Spring''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Howard |first1=Maureen |title=Big as Life: Three Tales for Spring |date=2001 |publisher=Viking |location=New York |isbn=0-670-89978-X |url=https://archive.org/details/bigaslifethreeta00howa}}</ref> In the novel ''Audubon's Watch'', [[John Gregory Brown]] explores a mysterious death that took place on a Louisiana plantation when Audubon worked there as a young man.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=John Gregory |title=Audubon's Watch |date=2001 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=New York |isbn=0-395-78607-X |url=https://archive.org/details/audubonswatchnov00brow}}</ref>

[[George Voskovec]] plays Audubon in the 1952 American film ''[[The Iron Mistress]]'', which stars Alan Ladd as James Bowie. The film imagines a friendship between the two men.

In 1985, [[National Gallery of Art|The National Gallery of Art]] 20C History Project produced a documentary, "John James Audubon: The Birds of America", now widely available online.

In July 2007, [[PBS]]'s ''[[American Masters]]'' series aired an episode titled "John James Audubon: Drawn from Nature",<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 25, 2007 |title=John James Audubon ~ Drawn from Nature {{!}} American Masters |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/john-james-audubon-drawn-from-nature/106/ |access-date=September 3, 2021 |website=American Masters |language=en-US}}</ref> Supplemental material is available [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/john-james-audubon-drawn-from-nature/ on the PBS website].

Audubon appears in the short story "Audubon In Atlantis" by [[Harry Turtledove]], published in the 2010 collection ''Atlantis and Other Places''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XexgzgAACAAJ |title=Atlantis and Other Places |last=Turtledove |first=Harry |date=2011 |publisher=ROC |isbn=978-0-451-46387-6 |language=en}}</ref> Audubon's drawings are also the important part of the plot of [[Gary D. Schmidt]]'s children's novel ''[[Okay for Now]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISBN9780547152608 |title=Okay for Now |last=Schmidt |first=Gary |date=2011 |publisher=Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-547-15260-8 |language=en}}</ref>

The choral oratorio ''Audubon'' by James Kallembach was premiered on November 9, 2018, in Boston, Massachusetts by Chorus pro Musica.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://choruspromusica.org/concert/audubon |title=Audubon: An American Adventure Takes Flight |access-date=May 22, 2019}}</ref> The work depicts scenes of Audubon's life and descriptions of the birds he drew with text drawn from the 2004 biography by Richard Rhodes.<ref>Rhodes 2004</ref>

===Places named in his honor===
[[File:AUDUBON (Ship) (c112-01-03).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Clipper]] ship ''Audubon'']]
* [[Audubon Park, New Orleans|Audubon Park and Zoo]] in New Orleans, where he lived beginning in 1821
* [[Audubon, New Jersey|Audubon]] and [[Audubon Park, New Jersey|Audubon Park]], both in New Jersey. Many streets in Audubon Park are named after birds drawn by him.
* [[Audubon, Pennsylvania]], also has the Audubon Bird Sanctuary. Audubon Elementary School, Audubon Court Apartments and Audubon road in Audubon, PA. Most of the streets in this small town are named after birds that he drew.
*Audubon Middle School (formerly Junior High) in the [[Leimert Park]] neighborhood of [[Los Angeles, California]].
* [[Audubon Nature Institute]], a family of museums, parks, and other organizations in New Orleans, eight of which bear the Audubon name
* [[Audubon Park, Kentucky|Audubon Park]] and country club in [[Louisville, Kentucky]], is in the area of his former general store.
* Several towns and [[Audubon County, Iowa]]
* [[John James Audubon Bridge (Mississippi River)]], connecting Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana Parishes; over thirty of Audubon's bird paintings were created in West Feliciana Parish.
* The northbound span of the [[Bi-State Vietnam Gold Star Bridges]] was originally named the Audubon Memorial Bridge.
* Audubon Park, in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], is associated with the nearby [[Memphis Botanic Garden|Botanic Garden]].
* [[John James Audubon State Park]] and the Audubon Museum (located within the park) in [[Henderson, Kentucky]]
* [[Audubon Parkway]], also in Kentucky, is a limited-access highway connecting Henderson with [[Owensboro, Kentucky]].
* Rue Jean-Jacques Audubon in [[Nantes]] and Rue Audubon in [[Paris]], France
* Rue Jean-Jacques Audubon in [[Couëron]], [[France]]
* Lycée Jean-Jacques Audubon in Couëron, France.
* [[:fr:Marais Audubon|Marais Audubon]] between Couëron and St Etienne de Mont-luc, France
* Audubon Circle, a major intersection and neighborhood in [[Boston, Massachusetts]]; [[Park Drive (parkway)]], which runs through the Audubon Circle, was formerly named Audubon Road.
* John James Audubon Parkway in [[Amherst, New York]]
* [[Audubon Avenue]] in New York, New York
* [[Dauphin Island Audubon Bird Sanctuary|Audubon Bird Sanctuary]], [[Dauphin Island, Alabama]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dauphinisland.org/audubon-bird-sanctuary/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920223533/http://dauphinisland.org/audubon-bird-sanctuary/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=September 20, 2013 |title=Dauphin Island Park and Beach Audubon Bird Sanctuary on Dauphin Island |work=Dauphin Island Park and Beach |access-date=July 9, 2015}}</ref>
* [[Audubon National Wildlife Refuge]], [[Coleharbor, North Dakota]]
* [[Audubon Park, Minneapolis|Audubon Park]], a park and neighborhood in [[Northeast, Minneapolis|Northeast Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]]
* Audubon Road, a road in [[Chanhassen, Minnesota]] and sections of [[Chaska, Minnesota]] are both named in honor of Audubon. Likewise, many streets near Audubon Road are named after various birds (I.E.: [[Flamingo]] Drive, [[Common merganser|Merganser]] Court, [[Heron]] Drive, etc.). 
* Audubon Park, a park and neighborhood in [[Orlando, Florida]]. The streets are named after birds, such as Falcon Drive and Raven Road.
* [[Wildcat Glades Conservation and Audubon Center]] in [[Joplin, Missouri]]
* [[Audubon International]], a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that administers a wide range of environmental education and certification programs on properties such as golf courses, hotels, school campuses, ski areas, cemeteries, corporate parks, and agricultural lands<ref>{{cite web |url=http://auduboninternational.org/ |title=Audubon International |work=auduboninternational.org |access-date=July 9, 2015}}</ref>
* The [[Scioto Audubon Metro Park]] in [[Columbus, Ohio]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metroparks.net/parks-and-trails/scioto-audubon/ |title=Scioto Audubon |work=Metro Parks – Central Ohio Park System |access-date=July 9, 2015}}</ref>
* Audubon Recreation Center in [[Garland, Texas]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.garlandparks.com/gov/lq/parks/rec/arc/default.asp |title=Garland Texas – Audubon Recreation Center |work=garlandparks.com |access-date=July 9, 2015 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924020747/http://www.garlandparks.com/gov/lq/parks/rec/arc/default.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Mount Audubon]] (13229&nbsp;ft/4032&nbsp;m), [[Colorado]]
* [[Audubon Mountain]], in Chugach Mountains of Alaska
* [[Audubon High School]] in [[Camden County, New Jersey]], and many primary schools around the United States
* Audubon Golf Trail – a collection of golf courses spread throughout Louisiana
* John James Audubon Elementary School in [[Chicago, Illinois]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.audubonelementary.org |title=Audubon School |access-date=December 31, 2019}}</ref>
* Pascagoula River Audubon Center in [[Moss Point, Mississippi]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://pascagoula.audubon.org/ |title=Pascagoula River Audubon Center |website=Pascagoula River Audubon Center |access-date=July 20, 2020}}</ref>
* [[Audubon House & Gallery]] in [[Key West, Florida]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://audubonhouse.org/ |title=John Audubon House & Gallery |website=audubonhouse.org |access-date=October 3, 2020}}</ref>
* Audubon Street, home to the Audubon Arts District and The Audubon New Haven apartment building, in [[New Haven, Connecticut]]
* [[Audubon Swamp Garden]], part of the [[Magnolia Plantation and Gardens (Charleston, South Carolina)|Magnolia Plantation and Gardens]] park along the Ashley River in [[Charleston, South Carolina]]

*[[John J. Audubon (brig)]], an American ship in 1854.

=== Surviving bird specimens ===

Some of Audubon's bird specimens survive in the collections of the [[Natural History Museum, London]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bird skin collections {{!}} Natural History Museum |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/collections/zoology-collections/bird-skin-collections.html |access-date=March 23, 2022 |website=www.nhm.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> the [[Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University|Academy of Natural Sciences]], Philadelphia,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=British Ornithologists' Club. |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/252645 |title=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club |last2=Club |first2=British Ornithologists' |date=2016 |publisher=British Ornithologists' Club |volume=136 |location=London }}</ref> and there are 5 specimens in the collections of [[World Museum]], National Museums Liverpool.

<gallery mode="nolines" widths="200px">
File:NML-VZ T8161.jpg|[[Zenaida dove]]. NML-VZ T8161 collected by John James Aububon.
File:NML-VZ D3904.jpg|[[Lewis's woodpecker]]. NML-VZ D3904 collected by John James Aubudon.
File:NML-VZ D2109.jpg|[[Violet-green swallow]]. NML-VZ D2109 collected by John James Audubon.
File:NML-VZ D2124.jpg|[[Violet-green swallow]]. NML-VZ D2124 collected by John James Audubon.
File:NML-VZ D2949.jpg|[[Reddish egret]]. NML-VZ D2949 collected by John James Audubon.
</gallery>

==Works==

===Posthumous collections===
* John James Audubon, ''Selected Journals and Other Writings''  (Ben Forkner, ed.) (Penguin Nature Classics, 1996) {{ISBN|0-14-024126-4}}
* John James Audubon, ''Writings & Drawings'' (Christoph Irmscher, ed.) ([http://www.loa.org/ The Library of America], 1999) {{ISBN|978-1-883011-68-0}}
* John James Audubon, ''The Audubon Reader'' (Richard Rhodes, ed.) (Everyman Library, 2006) {{ISBN|1-4000-4369-7}}
* ''Audubon: Early Drawings'' (Richard Rhodes, Scott V. Edwards, Leslie A. Morris) ([http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/AUDAUD.html Harvard University Press] and Houghton Library 2008) {{ISBN|978-0-674-03102-9}}
* John James Audubon, ''[[s:Audubon and His Journals|Audubon and His Journals]]'' (The European Journals 1826–1829, the Labrador Journal 1833, the Missouri River Journals 1843), edited by Maria Audubon, volumes 1 and 2, originally published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1897  (in [[File:wikisource-logo.svg|16x16px]] [[Wikisource]]).

{{botanist|Audubon|Audubon, John James}}

==See also==
* [[Audubon House and Tropical Gardens]], Key West, Florida
* [[Audubon International]]
* [[Audubon Mural Project]]
* [[Audubon Park Historic District, New York City]]
* [[Audubon State Historic Site]], West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
* [[List of wildlife artists]]
* [[National Audubon Society]]
* [[Passenger pigeon]]

==References==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* Anon. (1887) ''[https://archive.org/stream/popularsciencemo31newy#page/686/mode/2up Sketch of J.J. Audubon]''. ''The Popular Science Monthly''. pp.&nbsp;687–692.
* Arthur, Stanley Clisby (1937). ''Audubon; An Intimate Life of the American Woodsman''. New Orleans: Harmanson. {{OCLC|1162643}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=narQHn8kZJsC view excerpts online]
*{{cite book |editor=Audubon, Lucy Green Bakewell |year=1870 |title=The Life of John James Audubon, the Naturalist |publisher=G.P.Putnam & Sons |place=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofjohnjamesa00audub }}
* Burroughs, J. (1902). ''[https://archive.org/details/johnjamesaudubon00burriala John James Audubon]''. Boston: Small, Maynard & company. {{OCLC|648935}}
* Chalmers, John (2003). ''Audubon in Edinburgh and his Scottish Associates''. NMS Publishing, Edinburgh, 978 1 901663 79 2
* Ford, Alice (1969). ''Audubon By Himself''. Garden City NY: The Natural History Press
* Ford, Alice (1964; revised 1988). ''John James Audubon''. University of Oklahoma Press
* Fulton, Maurice G. (1917). ''Southern Life in Southern Literature; selections of representative prose and poetry''. Boston, New York [etc.]: Ginn and Co. {{OCLC|1496258}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=VR3RlmT521QC view online here]
* Jackson E Christine (2013). ''John James Audubon and English Perspective'' [http://cejacksonbirdart.wix.com/jjlaudubon Christine E Jackson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922132843/http://cejacksonbirdart.wix.com/jjlaudubon |date=September 22, 2013 }}
* Herrick, Francis Hobart (1917). ''Aububon the naturalist: A History of his Life and Time.'' D. Appleton and Company, New York. [https://archive.org/details/audubonnaturalis01herrrich Volume I][https://archive.org/details/audnaturalis02herr Volume II] ([https://archive.org/details/audubonnaturalis1938herr combined 2nd 1938 edition])
* {{cite BDA1906 |wstitle= Audubon, John James |volume= 1 |pages= 163-164 |short=}}
* {{cite book |title=Audubon: America's Greatest Naturalist and His Voyage of Discovery to Labrador |last=Logan |first=Peter |publisher=Ashbryn Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-9972282-1-2 |location=San Francisco, California}}
* Norman, Ana. "Audubon Collecting Guide: An Overview of the Antique Original Editions of Audubon’s Birds of America" Joel Oppenheimer, Inc. https://www.audubonart.com/audubon-collecting-guide/
* Norman, Ana. "What are the differences between an Audubon Havell engraving and Bien Lithograph? How to differentiate between the two Double-Elephant folio Editions" Joel Oppenheimer Gallery, JUNE 20, 2023. https://www.audubonart.com/what-are-the-differences-between-an-audubon-havell-engraving-and-bien-lithograph/
* Norman, Ana. "A Guide to the Watermarks and Paper Types Found in Audubon’s Havell edition of The Birds of America" Joel Oppenheimer Gallery, MAY 26, 2023. https://www.audubonart.com/a-guide-to-the-watermarks-and-paper-types-found-in-audubons-havell-edition-of-the-birds-of-america/
* Norman, Ana. "Audubon’s Miniature Folio – The Octavo Edition of Birds of America" Joel Oppenheimer Gallery, JUNE 21, 2023. https://www.audubonart.com/audubons-miniature-folio-the-octavo-edition-of-birds-of-america/ 
* [[Roberta Olson|Olson, Roberta J.M.]] (2012). ''Audubon's Aviary: The Original Watercolors for The Birds of America''. New York: Skira/Rizzoli and New-York Historical Society. {{ISBN|978-0-8478-3483-9}}
* {{cite journal |last=Olson |first=Roberta J.M.|author-link=Roberta Olson |date=2021 |title=Hiding in Plain Sight: New Evidence about the Birth, Identity, and Strategic Pseudonyms of John James Audubon |journal=Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology |issn=0027-4100 |doi=10.3099/MCZ70 |doi-access=free |volume=163 |issue=4 |pages=129–150}} Discusses the series of names assigned to Audubon as a youth.
* Punke, Michael (2007). ''Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West''. Smithsonian Books. {{ISBN|978-0-06-089782-6}}
* Rhodes, Richard (2004). ''John James Audubon: The Making of an American''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. {{ISBN|0-375-41412-6}}
* {{cite book |author=St. John, Mrs. Horace |title=Life of Audubon, the naturalist of the New World, His Adventures and Discoveries. |year=1884 |publisher=J.B.Lippincott & Co. |place=Philadelphia |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofaudubonnat00stjo }}
* Small, E., Catling, Paul M., Cayouette, J., and Brookes, B (2009). ''Audubon: Beyond Birds: Plant Portraits and Conservation Heritage of John James Audubon''. NRC Research Press, Ottawa, {{ISBN|978-0-660-19894-1}}
* Souder, William (2005) ''Under a Wild Sky: John James Audubon and the Making of The Birds of America''. New York: Macmillan. {{ISBN|0-86547-726-4}}
* Streshinsky, Shirley (1993). ''Audubon: Life and Art in the American Wilderness''. New York: Villard Books, {{ISBN|0-679-40859-2}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibitions/audubons-birds-america-focus-gallery Audubon Birds of America] at [[New York Historical Society]]
* {{Gutenberg author |id=41878| name=John James Audubon}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=John James Audubon}}
* [https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/search.jsp?Erp=25&N=4294831200+38550&Ns=p_pub_date_sort&Nso=0&view=grid Works by John James Audubon] at [[Toronto Public Library]]
* {{Librivox author |id=2223}}
* [http://americanartgallery.org/artist/home/id/147 John James Audubon at American Art Gallery]
* [http://audubon.pitt.edu Audubon's ''Birds of America'' at the University of Pittsburgh], a complete high resolution digitization of all 435 double elephant folios as well as his ''Ornithological Biography''
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20131009193800/http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/collections/modern/audubon.cfm The John James Audubon Collection]}}, [[Houghton Library]], Harvard University
* [http://www.audubon.org/nas/jja.html "Audubon biography"], National Audubon Society
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110719142918/http://jcsm.auburn.edu/collections_perm/audubon.php "Louise Hauss and David Brent Miller Audubon Collection"]}}, Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art, Auburn University
* [http://parks.ky.gov/findparks/recparks/au/ John James Audubon State Park] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510093219/http://parks.ky.gov/findparks/recparks/au/ |date=May 10, 2011 }} in Henderson, Kentucky
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110716073631/http://streaming.yale.edu/opa/podcasts/audio/schools/library/reese_073008.mp3 Audubon's ''Birds of America'']}}, podcast from the Beinecke Library, Yale University
* [http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/john-james-audubon-and-audubon-family-letters-10618 John James Audubon and Audubon family letters, (ca. 1783–1845)] from the Smithsonian [[Archives of American Art]]
* View works by [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/creator/5529 John James Audubon] online at the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
* [http://www.nyhistory.org/exhibits/collections/about/228/grid/paged/title Watercolors for ''Birds of America''] at the [[New York Historical Society]]
* [http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=ascead;cc=ascead;q1=audubon;rgn=main;view=text;didno=US-PPiU-ais197114 Burgwin Family Papers], 1844–1963, AIS.1971.14, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh. Includes Audubon-Bakewell family materials.
* [https://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/digitalcoll/digitalcoll-audubon.html John James Audubon Collection at the Library of Congress]
* [http://www.audubon-prints.com/identification-basics/ Identification guide to Audubon print editions]
* [https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4014coll10/id/970/rec/1 ''Blue jay: Corvus cristatus'' by John James Audubon] at the Cleveland Public Library Art Collection
* [[hdl:10079/fa/beinecke.audv|Victor Gifford Audubon Collection]]. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
* [http://www.audubonartgallery.com/ Audubon Art Gallery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106013016/https://www.audubonartgallery.com/ |date=January 6, 2024 }}. Online gallery of John James Audubon art prints.
* [https://www.nga.gov/artists/122-john-james-audubon John James Audubon] at the National Gallery of Art. 
* [https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/audubons-dream-realized ''Audubon's Dream Realized''] 2005–2006 exhibit at the National Gallery of Art of its 50 hand-colored prints from Audubon's ''The Birds of America''

{{Natural history}}
{{Hall of Fame for Great Americans}}
{{Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Audubon, John James}}
[[Category:John James Audubon|*]]
[[Category:19th-century American naturalists]]
[[Category:19th-century American zoologists]]
[[Category:American ornithologists]]
[[Category:19th-century American illustrators]]
[[Category:American botanical illustrators]]
[[Category:American scientific illustrators]]
[[Category:Writers who illustrated their own writing]]
[[Category:19th-century American painters]]
[[Category:19th-century American male writers]] 
[[Category:American nature writers]]
[[Category:American bird artists]]
[[Category:Birdwatchers]]
[[Category:American adoptees]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American male painters]]
[[Category:American people of Breton descent]]
[[Category:American slave owners]]
[[Category:French-language American writers]]
[[Category:Artists from New Orleans]]
[[Category:Burials at Trinity Church Cemetery]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Linnean Society of London]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:French emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Painters from Kentucky]]
[[Category:People from Les Cayes]]
[[Category:People from Saint-Domingue]]
[[Category:19th-century American male artists]]
[[Category:Painters from Louisiana]]
[[Category:1785 births]]
[[Category:1851 deaths]]