John James Audubon

American/French (1785-1851)

Biography

John James Audubon was born on April 26, 1785, in Les Cayes, Santo Domingo, France (now Haiti). From his father’s Pennsylvania estate, Audubon made the first American bird-banding experiments. After failing in business ventures, he concentrated on drawing and studying birds, which took him from Florida to Labrador. His extraordinary four-volume Birds of America was published in London in 1827. John James Audubon was an American ornithologist, artist and naturalist known for his studies, drawings and paintings of North American birds.