AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851), California Vulture, (Plate 426), 1827–1838

JOHN JAMES AUDUBON (1785 - 1851)

California Vulture, Plate 426

From the Birds of America

Aquatint engraving with original hand color

London: Robert Havell, 1827–1838

Paper size: 38 1/4 x 25 1/2 in.

The California Condor is one of the greatest conservation stories in American history. After recovering from near extinction, the birds are protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. From just 27 birds in 1987, the species was brought back from the brink through an extraordinary rescue effort involving captive breeding, protection of fragile DDT-weakened eggs, and careful reintroduction to the wild. Today, more than 500 condors soar once again over the western skies. Audubon’s majestic portrait, here titled California Vulture, captures the immense presence and commanding form of North America’s largest flying bird.

“Of the three species of Vulture which inhabit the southern parts of North America, this is so much superior in size to the rest that it bears to them the same proportion as a Golden Eagle to a Goshawk. It inhabits the valleys and plains of the western slope of the continent, and has not been observed to the eastward of the Rocky Mountains.”- (Audubon’s Ornithological Biography, 1831).