Woodpeckers – Audubon, 1831

Description

Front: The Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) was one of the largest woodpeckers in the world, and Audubon found them not only beautiful, but also bold and noble.

Back: The Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescen) is the smallest woodpecker in North America and considered one of the most hardy and industrious. Adult males have a red patch on the back of the head whereas juvenile birds display a red cap.

John James Audubon (1785-1851) was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, hunter and artist, who painted, catalogued and described the birds of North America in the renowned Birds of America, considered one of the greatest examples of book art.