The Bird of Washington, Washington Eagle or Great Sea Eagle (Falco washingtonii, F. washingtoniensis, F. washingtonianus, or Haliaetus washingtoni[1]) was a putative species of sea eagle which was claimed in 1826 and published by John James Audubon in his famous work The Birds of America. It is now not recognised as a valid species. Theories about its true nature include the following:[2]
- It was a juvenile specimen or sub-species of bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).
- It was an invention and that the picture was plagiarised from a picture of a golden eagle in Rees's Cyclopædia.
- It was actually a genuine species, but it was rare and became extinct after Audubon's sightings.
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John James Audubon's painting of the bird was acquired by Sidney Dillon Ripley, and his family donated it to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 1994.[3]
References
edit- ^ Strickland, H. E. (1855). Strickland, H. E.; Jardine, W. (eds.). Ornithological Synonyms. Vol. I. Accipitres. London: John van Voorst.
- ^ Halley, Matthew R. (22 June 2020), "Audubon's Bird of Washington: unravelling the fraud that launched The birds of America", Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, 140 (2): 110–141, doi:10.25226/bboc.v140i2.2020.a3, S2CID 219970340
- ^ Washington Sea Eagle, HomeSmithsonian American Art Museum
Further reading
editAllen, J. A. 1870. What is the ‘Washington Eagle'? The American Naturalist 4: pp 524–527
Audubon, J. J. 1828. Notes on the Bird of Washington (Fálco Washingtoniàna), or Great American Sea Eagle. Magazine of Natural History 1: pp 115–120.
Maruna, S. 2006. Substantiating Audubon's Washington Eagle. Ohio Cardinal 29: pp 140–150.
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