I recently read the book The Birds that Audubon Missed by Kenn Kaufman, which is a fascinating read. It got me thinking, if someone did all the research, how many bird species would be on Audubon’s life list? It would be challenging for a couple reasons: 1). Although some 400 species are included in his Birds of America, some illustrations were based on dead specimens obtained by others, so unless he mentioned having seen the live birds himself, these species could not be added to his list. 2). Some birds he thought were distinct species were variations of the same species (i.e. different male/female plumage, juveniles, subspecies/color morphs), and vice versa, some birds he thought were the same species were actually distinct species (i.e he thought that the adult Sandhill crane was a juvenile Whooping Crane). Naturally past two centuries there have been a lot of taxonomy splits that Audubon could not have predicted, so you would likely have to be conservative in counting (so if one flycatcher species has been now split into two distinct species, you could only credit him with one unless you could prove from his notes that he saw both, even though he thought they were the same species). 3). He grew up in France, so he likely saw many French bird species that were not included in his book, which could be added if he mentioned them in any surviving letters.
I just think it would be interesting to make life lists for historical figures in science who may have seen species that have since gone extinct.
Henry Bates sure would have an enviable life list!
I had an interesting answer queued up for your question, that included the history of birding (it started in the 1700s, and it grew post-WW2 for several reasons), but I lost it, so I will mostly answer the question that you asked.
From what I can tell, Audubon’s life list would be less than 500 species. Around 400 birds from the USA, and about 75 birds from his time in Nantes (western France).
The author of your book — Kenn Kaufman — is an interesting guy. From a review of Kaufman’s book Kingbird Highway:
“In the 1970’s . . . Kenn Kaufman, at the age of 16, dropped out of high school and hit the road. Sleeping in fields and underpasses, living off of crackers, coffee, and even cat food (it’s cheap), and hitchhiking everywhere in the US and Mexico . . . Kenn wanted to see every rare bird in the US. In 1973 . . . Kenn began his own Big Year . . . Kenn spotted 667 species”
[I think the current records are:
- For a USA (American Birding Association) Big Year: 840, set by John Weigel in 2019
- For a worldwide Big year: 6,852, set by Arjan Dwarshuis in 2016
But as we know from this forum, if you get interested in taxa beyond birds, then you can count thousands of species in your own back yard. And you don’t have to eat cat food, and you get to sleep in your own bed every night!]
Continuing with the book review of Kingbird Highway:
“As with other birding books, I have my binoculars pointed at the birders — they are much more interesting than the birds. But I appreciate birding (is it a sport or a hobby?), as it encourages travel, being outside, and appreciating nature.”
Bonus info: The crimes of Audubon
I think bird listing appeals to people particularly because there are a large but still manageable number of birds. There are a couple hundred species of birds in any given country/region, and somewhere around 11,000 species worldwide. Mammals, reptiles, and amphibians often have only a couple dozen species in any given place (except maybe in the rainforest).
Those are the records for a Big Year yes. For life lists I believe Peter Kaestner has the record of being the first to pass 10,000 species (before the recent taxonomy lumps that is), which is some 90% of bird species on earth, a percentage you would never in a lifetime be able to reach with insects.
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