John James Audubon was one of America’s first and foremost experts on birds. His grand plan was to document every bird in America, and as he was also a very capable artist, he aimed to produce images of every one of these birds in their natural habitats. His book, Birds of America, was originally published as a series between 1827 and 1839 and is generally considered to be one of the finest ornithological works ever published. It includes color plates of over 400 species of birds, each painted from a dead specimen mounted on wires to place it in a life-like position.
