Salt Water Marsh Hen

John James Audubon, born in 1785, was the son of a French sea captain and spent his early years growing up in France. At the age of 18, he was sent to America, where he developed a lifelong fascination with nature—particularly birds—which he observed and sketched with growing passion.

After a failed business venture left him bankrupt, Audubon turned fully toward his love of ornithology. With a spirit of adventure and a clear vision, he set out into the American wilderness armed with art supplies and an ambitious goal: to identify, illustrate, and document every bird species in North America.

His journey eventually took him to England, where the first volume of Birds of America was published to immediate acclaim. By 1831, Audubon was celebrated as the foremost naturalist in the United States, widely recognised as one of the pioneering “men of science.”

His monumental work includes 435 life-sized watercolours—each a detailed and vibrant depiction of birds in their natural habitats, all reproduced from hand-engraved plates. Today, Audubon is honoured as the creator of the first great collection of American birds, and his work remains a definitive cornerstone of wildlife illustration.