Audubon, John James

John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin, April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was a French-American artist, entrepreneur, naturalist, explorer, and ornithologist. His combined interests in painting and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictorial record of all the bird species of North America. He was notable for his extensive studies of American birds and for his detailed (yet romantic) illustrations, which were engraved in Scotland and England for a large-format (double-elephant folio) color-plate (intaglio) book titled The Birds of America (1827–1838), and five volumes of accompanying text entitled Ornithological Biography (1831–1839). Audubon's scientific contributions were considerable but controversial. He was accused of fraud, plagiarism, and scientific misconduct during his life as well as posthumously. As of 2025, the IOC World Bird List (v.15.1) attributes him as the primary author of 23 bird species (14 of which were based on specimens he purchased or received from colleagues) and 13 subspecies. This tally is an overestimate because it includes at least one ambiguous species (Traill's Flycatcher Muscicapa traillii) that was recently stabilized (as Willow...