Bird of Washington

The Bird of Washington, Washington Eagle, Washing Sea Eagle or Great Sea Eagle (Falco washingtonii or Falco washingtoniensis) 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 not now recognised as a valid species. Theories about its true nature include:[1]

  • that it was an juvenile specimen or sub-species of bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
  • that it was an invention that Audubon made to boost the sales of The Birds of America
  • that it was actually a genuine species but that it was rare and became extinct after Audubon's sighting
Bird of Washington, according to The Birds of America

The main reason people give to prove it was indeed a real species are that if it was a bald eagle, Audubon's measurment would have had to had been feet off. Another big reason people have is that many people said they saw it, and some people even said they had shot one. One person even claimed to have captured a live sea eagle. He noted that it seemed exceptionally intelligent. The one big reason people think it was either a bald or eagle or that Audubon made it up is that their is no surviving specimens around today. Two museums said they had one, but one museum burned down, the other one lost their specimen.

References
  1. 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

Further reading

Allen, 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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