The Birds That Audubon Missed: Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness

In this splendid study, naturalist Kaufman (A Season on the Wind) examines 19th-century ornithologist John James Audubon’s quest to document the birds of North America. Kaufman describes how in the 1830s, Audubon embarked on expeditions to southern Florida and northeastern Canada to find birds unknown to the late Alexander Wilson (1766–1813), whose ornithology writings were still regarded as authoritative. Audubon notched a few successes, such as discovering Bewick’s Wren, but Kaufman focuses on Audubon’s misses. These included such understandable omissions as the prairie falcon, which tends to travel alone and fly quickly. Others reveal the practical factors that shaped scientific knowledge in the 19th century. Ornithologists often identified birds from imprecise descriptions that could elide over subtle variations, so that some species went “undiscovered,” mistaken for similar-looking birds. Audubon fell into this trap, failing to observe that the Swainson’s thrush and gray-cheeked thrush were distinct species. The discerning attention Kaufman pays to overlooked corners of his subject’s biography reveals Audubon’s fabulist streak (he ginned up funds for his first book by inventing an eagle with a rumored 10-foot wingspan) and ethical lapses (he once passed off a hawk specimen from a fellow Academy of Natural Sciences member as his own). Kaufman includes his own illustrations of the birds discussed, gamely mimicking Audubon’s style while bringing a sensibility distinctly his own. It’s a high-flying study of Audubon’s scientific contributions and major missteps. Illus. Agent: Wendy Strothman, Strothman Agency. (May)