On the Wing #31: (BRO) Audubon Vs. Scott
As promised last week, I will start the competition known as the Babe Ruth of Ornithology, the tournament designed to weed out the best contributor to ornithological history and practice in the modern era. The first round competitors this week are John James Audubon and Sir Peter Scott. Both greats in within their own time, they pioneered completely different campaigns for bird awareness with Scott focusing solely on waterfowl (and by extension wetlands as well) and Audubon being known for painting a good majority of the bird species found in North America.
Below are two brief bios on both contestants which I will tabulate into which has more good points than the other. Any undesirable features that might be looked down upon by today's birding public will garner negative pointage. Thus, those with more good points (worth one point each) will win the round and move on. If however, there is a tie, I will institute a random sudden death challenge which will vary dependent on circumstances. The basic model will involve me telling a close friend what each person was famous for and have them tell me who they think is better (I'll call this layman's bluff). If however, I'm alone at the time of writing, I will utilize the almighty power of Google and rank the figure based on search results. Those with a high search result will win. With that out of the way, may the best man win.
John James Audubon (1785-1851) is widely regarded as being the single greatest bird artist of his time. Authoring and painting one of the most influential works in American birding history, his name is single-handled associated with birds, their study, and representation on the printed page. While unsuccessful in most ventures in his life (most noticeably his own business interests and often within his own marriage), his passion for nature and the fine arts propelled him towards creating a volume of work that is remembered by people even only vaguely familiar with all things feathered and free. A common criticism of Audubon however was his tendency to embellish his own work, often to the point of ridiculous assumptions about what he'd seen. At several points he lists birds that may not have occurred or even been sighted within North America at any point in history. Another flaw was his inability to make any inroads with the ornithological elites of his day.
After reading "Of a Feather: A Brief History of American Birding" by Scott Weidensaul (a book that will be reviewed in the coming weeks as part of my light reading book list), I found out that in a speech to one of the meetings at the Academy of Natural Sciences, he lambasted the ornithological great of his day, Alexander Wilson (who incidentally is also competing and will be pitted against Edward Howe Forbush) In doing so, Audubon unknowingly incited to wrath of George Ord and the other Wilsonian supporters, effectively barring Audubon from the scientific halls of America, causing him to seek recognition abroad in the United Kingdom and Europe. For all his faults however, the importance that the "Birds of America" poses to the world today allowed the future bird-loving generations to have a handheld account of most of the bird species present in North America. This contribution alone has gone further with the use of his surname in a national organization dedicated to the protection of birds, wildlife, and their habitat for the present and future enjoyment of all those who truly appreciate the natural world. I myself have poured over a reproduction gifted to me by my girlfriend and have found particularly interesting his use of certain vernacular to describe birds commonly hunted in his time. He is a man that deserves his reputation and he certainly earned it.
Sir Peter Scott (1909-1989) may be less well known to American birders, but to the British, he is the preeminent example of all a nature lover and birder could be. He represented the gold standard in conserving vital habitats for birds and other wildlife around the world. Founder of both the World Wildlife Fund and Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, he is a household name to those in the conservation and wildlife loving communities. However, it is in the world of birds that he completed one of his most important works. As mentioned before, he founded several waterfowl parks around the United Kingdom which provided the average citizen the ability to view both native and exotic wildfowl up close and personal. This way, an appreciation could be gained for those people who didn't have a concept of the diversity and variety of waterfowl that exist the world over and as such would allow close examination of that great wealth of web-footed wonders.
The very existence of the WWT is one of the reasons I became interested in birds and waterfowl especially. It was the regular visits I made when I was in my early teens that cemented my curiosity for the various forms and colors represented by the different families. The very existence of the Trust has allowed many species that otherwise would have vanished years ago a fighting chance including the White-winged Wood Duck (Asarcornis scutulata), New Zealand Blue Duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos), Nene (Branta sandvicensis), and White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala). They've even branched out and provided facilities for the first breeding facilities for the world's only Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Eurynorhynchus pygmeus) colony. The purpose is in the unlikely, but tragic event of wild extinction, there is still a viable population of these unique shorebirds for future generations to marvel and wonder. It's thanks to people like Sir Peter Scott that will allow both present and future generations to learn about wildlife and their habitats, appreciate their importance in the world, and hopefully, protect their existence for their own children as well.
With those descriptions out of the way, it's time to tabulate their relative importance into points. For this category, I will use bullet points to summarize their achievements and hopefully choose the winner based on those points. Sorry to be so wordy, but it's needed so I can do this more smoothly with the next pair of contestants.
John James Audubon:
That Means It's A Sudden Death Round!!!: Google has been used and it has been determined that (much to my shock) Peter Scott has pulled an underdog victory (probably due to my neglecting to mention Scott's paintings of waterfowl as being just as famous as Audubon's for realism and use of habitat in the portraits they painted). The final internet results are as follows:
Audubon - 2,680,000 / Scott - 19,700,000
With that, Scott moves on to the quarter finals. Tune in next week for our next two combatants: Charles Lucien Bonaparte vs. Elliot Coues!
Have a great week and as always, happy birding ^_^
Below are two brief bios on both contestants which I will tabulate into which has more good points than the other. Any undesirable features that might be looked down upon by today's birding public will garner negative pointage. Thus, those with more good points (worth one point each) will win the round and move on. If however, there is a tie, I will institute a random sudden death challenge which will vary dependent on circumstances. The basic model will involve me telling a close friend what each person was famous for and have them tell me who they think is better (I'll call this layman's bluff). If however, I'm alone at the time of writing, I will utilize the almighty power of Google and rank the figure based on search results. Those with a high search result will win. With that out of the way, may the best man win.
 |
| Always a showboat, but classy when it came to art, birds, and sportsmanship. |
After reading "Of a Feather: A Brief History of American Birding" by Scott Weidensaul (a book that will be reviewed in the coming weeks as part of my light reading book list), I found out that in a speech to one of the meetings at the Academy of Natural Sciences, he lambasted the ornithological great of his day, Alexander Wilson (who incidentally is also competing and will be pitted against Edward Howe Forbush) In doing so, Audubon unknowingly incited to wrath of George Ord and the other Wilsonian supporters, effectively barring Audubon from the scientific halls of America, causing him to seek recognition abroad in the United Kingdom and Europe. For all his faults however, the importance that the "Birds of America" poses to the world today allowed the future bird-loving generations to have a handheld account of most of the bird species present in North America. This contribution alone has gone further with the use of his surname in a national organization dedicated to the protection of birds, wildlife, and their habitat for the present and future enjoyment of all those who truly appreciate the natural world. I myself have poured over a reproduction gifted to me by my girlfriend and have found particularly interesting his use of certain vernacular to describe birds commonly hunted in his time. He is a man that deserves his reputation and he certainly earned it.
 |
| Forever frozen in carbonite, but always vigilant to that next feathered flyby. |
The very existence of the WWT is one of the reasons I became interested in birds and waterfowl especially. It was the regular visits I made when I was in my early teens that cemented my curiosity for the various forms and colors represented by the different families. The very existence of the Trust has allowed many species that otherwise would have vanished years ago a fighting chance including the White-winged Wood Duck (Asarcornis scutulata), New Zealand Blue Duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos), Nene (Branta sandvicensis), and White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala). They've even branched out and provided facilities for the first breeding facilities for the world's only Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Eurynorhynchus pygmeus) colony. The purpose is in the unlikely, but tragic event of wild extinction, there is still a viable population of these unique shorebirds for future generations to marvel and wonder. It's thanks to people like Sir Peter Scott that will allow both present and future generations to learn about wildlife and their habitats, appreciate their importance in the world, and hopefully, protect their existence for their own children as well.
With those descriptions out of the way, it's time to tabulate their relative importance into points. For this category, I will use bullet points to summarize their achievements and hopefully choose the winner based on those points. Sorry to be so wordy, but it's needed so I can do this more smoothly with the next pair of contestants.
John James Audubon:
- Famous painter and self publisher of the acclaimed "Birds of America" (1)
- Hand painted and designed (with help from assistants) individual plates that represented a single or several species of birds on a piece of native vegetation that would be common in their given habitat. (1)
- Several names attributed to today's birds can be drawn back to Audubon's efforts including Bachman's Warbler (Vermivora bachmanii), Lucy's Warbler (Oreothlypis luciae), Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii), and Rathbone's Warbler (though the last bird was actually an immature Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) (1)
- Provided many Americans with a firsthand account of their continent's rich and abundant bird life. (1)
- His work serves as the inspiration for sight oriented field guides to birds that would come into vogue in the future. (1)
- However, he was unable to make any headway within his adopted countries ornithological circles due to lambasting the bird study idol of the day, Alexander Wilson. His problems were further inflamed when attempting to accurately represent the bird life of America both behavior and range-wise. As a result of a lack of scientific connections, his work was often met with scrutiny and harsh criticism by George Ord and his followers. (-1)
- Founder or co-founder of the World Wildlife Fund and Wildfowl and Wetland Trust. (1)
- As founder of the WWT, he provided an incentive to protect and celebrate the diversity of wetland wildlife and habitat, while promoting the great variety of form and color represented in the waterfowl family. (1)
- His organizations provided vital life lines for endangered animals in the form of funding, breeding programs, and public awareness campaigns to spread the information needed to care about the ecological diversity of the planet. (1)
- A personal inspiration for my interest in waterfowl and the conservation of wetland habitats for their use as well as for other wildlife species. (1)
That Means It's A Sudden Death Round!!!: Google has been used and it has been determined that (much to my shock) Peter Scott has pulled an underdog victory (probably due to my neglecting to mention Scott's paintings of waterfowl as being just as famous as Audubon's for realism and use of habitat in the portraits they painted). The final internet results are as follows:
Audubon - 2,680,000 / Scott - 19,700,000
With that, Scott moves on to the quarter finals. Tune in next week for our next two combatants: Charles Lucien Bonaparte vs. Elliot Coues!
Have a great week and as always, happy birding ^_^
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