04-20: J.J. Audubon and the Bird of Washington Fraud with Matthew Halley

The American Birding Podcast

naswick

Science, Birding, Hobbies, Travel, Birdwatching, Leisure, Aba, Ornithology, Nature, Birds

4.7 • 632 Ratings

🗓️ 16 July 2020

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

John James Audubon is frequently referred to with reverence as the father of the North American ornithology, and has a public reputation that is nearly impeccable. He has birds named after him, the country’s best known bird organization has his name, and is widely acknowledged as both a skilled painter and the best of the gentleman naturalists of the 19th century. But not so fast, says ornithologist and historian Matthew Halley, in a recently published article in Bulletin of the British Ornithologist’s Club called "Audubon's Bird of Washington: unravelling the fraud that launched The birds of America". The product of 10 years of work, Halley's article blows the lid off of the origins of perhaps North America’s best known bird book and he joins host Nate Swick to talk about Audubon's spectacular grift and his troubled legacy.

Also, it's our 100th episode! The first 27 listeners to respond to [email protected] will get some American Birding Podcast stickers!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the American Birding Podcast from the American Birding Association.
0:09.1	I'm your host, Nate Swick, and we have reached a milestone with this episode, this episode, the one you are listening to right now.
0:18.4	This is the American Birding Podcast, episode number 100. 100. We are now eligible for one of those
0:30.2	little pins that we sell at the ABA shop to put on our birding hat. The 100 one has a red-headed woodpecker on it.
0:39.0	For our purposes, that woodpecker will now be clinging to a microphone or something.
0:44.9	100 episodes, can you believe it?
0:47.0	Have any of you been here since the beginning?
0:49.1	I have.
0:50.6	But, you know, for a special 100th episode surprise, I have in front of me 27 pre-paid
0:59.0	envelopes and a whole bunch of American Birding Podcast stickers. I have these stickers that
1:05.5	have our logo on it. The first 27 people to email me at podcast.a.org with your contact information will get
1:14.7	something in the mail from me. Of course, they are prepaid with the U.S. Postal Service.
1:20.4	They have to be in the United States. I'm sorry. If you are Canadian, I do have to put a couple extra first-class stamps on it. I might be willing
1:29.4	to do that for you, but I could definitely get it to you if you're in the United States.
1:34.3	27 prepaid envelopes. If you want to leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts and return,
1:40.5	Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast, that would be great. I was going to kind of
1:43.9	tie this thing to leaving a rating, but some of you may have
1:46.4	already done that.
1:47.3	So I won't just know that I appreciate you if you do.
1:51.1	This is a gift to 27 of you until I run out of envelopes.
1:56.9	On the show today, we're going to spill some tea on the biggest name in North American ornithology,
2:04.4	none other than John James Audubon.
	...

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