In our experience, chicken lovers fall into two general categories:
Eagerly observant cataloguers like John James Audubon …
And people of us who cannot resist assigning anthropomorphic personalities and behaviors to the 435 stars of Audubon’s The Birds of America, a stunning collection of prints from life-size watercolors he professionalduced between 1827 and 1838.
Our suspicions have little to do with biology, however slightly, a certain zestiness of expression, an overemphatic beak, a droll gleam within the eye.
The Audubon Society’s newly redesigned netwebsite abounds with treapositive for these in both camp:
Free excessive res downa great deal of all 435 plates.
Mp3s of every specimen’s name.
And vintage commalestary that effectively splits the difference between science and the unintentionally humorous locutions of another age.
Take for example, the Burrowing Owl, as described by self-taught naturalist Thomas Say (1787–1834):
It’s delightful, during tremendous weather, to see these dwellly little creatures sporting concerning the entrance of their burrows, that are all the time saved within the neatest restore, and are sometimes inhabited by several individuals. When alarmed, they immediately take refuge of their subterranean chambers; or, if the dreaded danger be not immediately impending, they stand close to the brink of the doorway, courageously barking and flourishing their tails, or else sit erect to reconnoitre the transferments of the enemy.
The notes of ornithologist John Kirk Townsend (1809 – 1851) suggest that not eachone was as taken with the species as Say (who was, in all truthfulness, the daddy of American entomology):
Nothing could be extra unpleasant than the bagging of this species, on account of the fleas with which their plumage swarms, and which in all probability have been left within the burrow by the Unhealthyger or Marmot, on the time it was abandoned by these animals. I do know of no other chicken infested by that form of vermin.
The Common Gallinule, above, suggests that there’s typically extra to those birds than meets the attention. His somewhat sheepish looking countenance belies the pink sizzling love life Audubon recounts:
… the personifestations of their amatory propensity have been fairly commentready. The male birds courtroomed the females, each on the land and on the water; they frequently unfold out their tail like a fan, and moved spherical every other, emitting a murmuring sound for some seconds. The feminine would afterwards stroll to the water’s edge, stand within the water as much as her breast, and obtain the caresses of the male, who immediately after would strut on the water earlier than her, jerking with fastity his unfold tail for awhile, after which they’d each resume their ordinary occupations.
Being that we’re agencyly planted within the second sort of chicken lover’s camp, this ornithological cornucopia importantly serves to whet our urge for food for extra Falseknees, self-described chicken nerd Joshua Barkman’s beautifully rendered netcomic.
Sure, Audubon’s Indigo Fowl, aka Petit Papebleu, “an lively and dwellly little fellow” who “possesses a lot elegance in his form, and in addition a certain diploma of agencyness in his make” was separated by a century or so from “Temper Indigo”—we presume that’s the tune caught in Barkman’s chicken’s head—however he does look slightly preoccupied, no?
Possibly simply assumeing of mealworms…
Discover Audubon’s Birds of America by chronological or alphawagerical order, or by state, and download all of them without cost right here.
Be aware: An earlier version of this publish appeared on our website in 2019.
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What Type of Fowl Is That?: A Free App From Cornell Will Give You the Reply
The Fowl Library: A Library Constructed Especially for Our Tremendous Feathered Mates
Ayun Halliday is an writer, illustrator, and theater maker in NYC.
