“Understanding [JJA]’s avian genius” takes a lot of cognitive dissonance. In this piece, @chrisirmscher makes several dubious (bad faith?) claims about John James Audubon and the history of American science, and throws some unearned shade at @kennkaufman. Let’s have a look. 1/n First, let me clarify—I have not (yet) read Roberta Olson’s new book, *Audubon as Artist*—but I am looking forward to it, of course! Audubon was indeed a gifted artist, and very imaginative in his portrayal of birds. I know @kennkaufman agrees! 2/n

Today, I am releasing the “Ornithology in Peale’s Museum” (OPM) database (v.1.0) the first systematic inventory of the global bird collection of Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) w/ 100s of pages (!) of unpubl. primary sources for 620+ bird species.🧵 1/X dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.…
The OPM database will soon be hosted on a website, illustrated with more than 1,200 images, and hosted by the @AmPhilSociety. While some technical issues are being addressed, I am making this citable *beta* version available to the public. 2/X

1/ My paper “Return to the ‘Great Pine Swamp’ of Alexander Wilson” was published today @online_BOC. It explains how, in June 2023, I relocated the ‘Great Pine Swamp’ after 212 years, and resolved several long-standing ornithological mysteries. Summary 🧵. doi.org/10.25226/bboc.… 2/ In May 1811, Alexander Wilson (1766–1813) travelled to a place called the 'Great Pine Swamp', searching for new bird species. John James Audubon (1785-1851) later claimed that he “followed [Wilson’s] track” to the Great Pine Swamp in 1829. Could that be true? 🤔

In June 2019—a year before #birdnamesforbirds launched—I published a blog in support of “changing all honorific (common) names including Audubon and Townsend … banishing [them] entirely.” Today @AmOrn did just that. I want to share some thoughts.🧵1/18 matthewhalley.wordpress.com/2019/01/19/mcc… Robert Driver’s proposal to rename McCown’s (now Thick-billed) Longspur was then being debated by the @AmOrn NACC. As a grad student, he endured eye-rolling and disapproval from senior members of @AmOrn community for the “stunt”—I admired his courage. 2/18

My latest paper about the scientific misdeeds of John James Audubon (#fraudubon) was published today in the Proceedings @AcadNatSci — welcome to the summary thread! @AmOrnith @AudubonSociety @SeattleAudubon. Peer-reviewed paper @ the following link. 1/n doi.org/10.1635/053.16… If you’re just catching up — John James Audubon (1785–1851) was a painter & ornithologist who published *The Birds of America* (1828–38), a famous ($$$) collection of 435 life-sized, hand-colored prints of American birds. 🦅🦆🦢🦜🦃 2/n audubon.org/birds-of-ameri…

In a new paper (see link), I expose a big misunderstanding about the history of Alexander Wilson's (1766-1813) ornithology: He was not the "Father of American Ornithology" as widely claimed. Sorry @WilsonOrnithSoc, hear me out. 1/18 doi.org/10.1635/053.16… To the uninitiated, Wilson was a Scottish-born poet/ornithologist who immigrated to the USA in 1796, and became famous for authoring and co-publishing the first books dedicated to describing American birds: "American Ornithology", 9 vols (1808-1814), hereafter Am. Orn. 2/18

@eamon_corbett @brown_birds @TheLabAndField First, some context. A soon-to-be published essay by Charles W. Peale (1805) confirms there were Smew specimens from Europe in the Peale Museum (MRH, in prep). Wilson included Smew in Am. Orn. (1814) but inexplicably omitted Bufflehead. 1/11 @eamon_corbett @brown_birds @TheLabAndField Ord (1815) confirmed that “Wilson confused [Smew] with the Butter-ball”, i.e., Wilson’s American “Smew” anecdotes were actually about Buffleheads, but his painting (Pl. 71) was based on Peale’s Smew specimens from Europe. 2/11