Today is Audubon Day

News-Messenger/News Herald
·1 min read
Short-eared owls course silently over grasslands, especially at dawn and dusk, hunting for small mammals and birds.
Short-eared owls course silently over grasslands, especially at dawn and dusk, hunting for small mammals and birds.
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John James Audubon, born on today's date in 1785 in what is now Haiti, was the foremost wildlife illustrator in the United States for half a century, mainly focusing on ornithological paintings. In 1803, he came to America and lived at the family estate in Mill Grove, Pennsylvania, where he studied, drew birds, and met his wife, Lucy. He experimented with bird banding, being the first person known to have done so in North America. He and Lucy moved to Kentucky and started a family. He continued to draw birds. Audubon moved to England, found a printer and The Birds of America was published as a series between 1827 and 1838. It included 435 watercolor plates and was printed in a very large book format. After his death Lucy continued as a teacher and one of her students, George Bird Grinnell, founded the first Audubon Society, to protect birds.

Source: Checkiday.com

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Today is Audubon Day