THE EXTINCT (AND ALMOST EXTINCT) BIRDS OF JOHN J. AUDUBON

In the early 1800s, scientists still had much to learn about birds. How many species were there? Where did birds go in the winter? Some people believed Aristotle (384–322 BCE), who said that birds hibernated in logs or even underwater. Were birds different on other continents? Longdistance travel was not that common, and there were many species that only local people had seen and knew existed.

Photography was a new technology. A color photo of a bird was not possible. Naturalists could only