John James Audubon on Google Doodle

Today, 26 April 2011, Google celebrated the 226th birthday of John James Audubon by displaying a special Google Doodle on its homepage. He was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, hunter, and painter.

Audubon developed his own methods for drawing birds.

First, he killed them using fine shot. He then used wires to prop them into a natural position, unlike the common method of many ornithologists, who prepared and stuffed the specimens into a rigid pose. When working on a major specimen like an eagle, he would spend up to four 15-hour days, preparing, studying, and drawing it. His paintings of birds are set true-to-life in their natural habitat. He often portrayed them as if caught in motion, especially feeding or hunting. This was in stark contrast to the stiff representations of birds by his contemporaries, such as Alexander Wilson. Audubon based his paintings on his extensive field observations.