Jackson's Birds of America and the World Introduction

 

Jackson's Birds of America and the World

Introduction

 

If you ask almost anyone to name a famous ornithologist, they will probably say John James Audubon.  In fact, even those birders with the slightest interest in birds would not have any hesitation to name Mr. Audubon.  Unfortunately, there are those who would hesitate to name him as an ornithologist, instead, putting him in the category of wildlife artist, of which he was a great one.

American Bald Eagle

This post is not about Mr. Audubon, but rather about a quest to document, as much as possible, the birds of America and the World.  Of course, since the lifetime of Audubon's quest to document the birds of America, many have disappeared, not just from their natural habitat to some other place, but in this case, to extinction.  The Carolina Paroquet was fairly common during Audubon's time as was the Passenger Pigeon whose great numbers blackened the skies.  Both are now extinct, and many more birds are on the verge of extinction. 

So, what is the cause of the decline of so many bird species?  Is it hunting?  Not really, as this is being more and more regulated, but it is also becoming less favorable as a hobby.  I recall during my hunting days, long gone in the past, when I had shot a magnificent ring-necked pheasant.  I showed a photo of the dead bird to a co-worker who was very proficient at making custom knives.  He just looked at the photo and said, "How does it feel to destroy such a beautiful bird with a high-powered shotgun?"  I was stunned, but it made me realize how right he was.  From then on, I concentrated on hunting with my camera.

Above, is an Archaeopteryx fossil found in Solnhofen, Germany in the famous Solnhofen plattenkalk (limestone) formation.  It is one of the earliest feathered theropod dinosaurs.   We can say that evolution has caused the decline of many species, however, in more recent times, man has played a large part in this evolutionary process. 

The goal of this post is not to focus so much on the negativity of the ways of mankind's adverse effect on the wildlife of the world, but rather to show the beauty and diversity of birdlife on this planet.  The mission is also to show how complex Mother Nature is, and how she can plant a Speckled Teal, above, on Lake Titicaca in Peru and have such a very similar species halfway around to the other side of the planet.

Wood Duck

Is this a complete listing of every bird species in the World?  No, of course not, but it is ongoing and a goal that may never be reached.  In fact, in its present state, it is merely a personal checklist of birds that I have seen.

In this listing, I have tried to maintain the standard convention for grouping bird species, although some countries use slightly different groupings.  I have purposely omitted three items that may be standard for most bird identification guides: 1.) no scientific names, 2.) no in-depth descriptions, and 3.) no migrant or residency information.  It is felt that if the reader would like more information on a particular bird, the internet would have a wealth of that specific data.

Turkey Vulture

In this post, you might see the occasional bird in a rather unnatural setting, like on a manmade fence post, or telephone wire.  It seems that this is the new natural environment for many birds, and I wonder how Audubon would have drawn his subjects were he to do it today.    

Collared Kingfisher

The listing and my photographs on the following posts begin with Birds of Prey and continue alphabetically to Wrens and include nearly all bird groupings in between. They are listed on separate posts from Part 1 to Part 15.

An index and listing of which post they appear follows below: