John James Audubon’s double-elephant folio The Birds of America (London, 1827-1838) can be viewed during the open hours of the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives’s reading room on the third floor of the Hawthorne-Longfellow Library at Bowdoin College.
Bowdoin’s set of Birds of America has been on permanent display since 1956, initially in the former library in Hubbard Hall before moving to the Hawthorne-Longfellow Library in 1965. To showcase this resplendent work while limiting the light exposure that can damage the prints’ sensitive watercolors, only one volume, turned to a single print, is exhibited at a time. In January 2016, Special Collections director Kat Stefko and education and outreach librarian Marieke Van Der Steenhoven inaugurated a monthly page-turning event, beginning with the first plate, in order to better regulate the amount of light each print receives.
Upcoming page-turning events are listed on our Events page and below is an archive of past birds and guest speakers.
| Date | Audubon’s Bird | Current Name | Guest Speaker | Watch Live Stream Recording |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2021 | Passenger Pigeon | Passenger Pigeon | Susan Wegner, Associate Professor of Art History | Watch December ’21 Live Stream |
| November 2021 | Great Horned Owl | Great Horned Owl | Poet Lisa May Hibl ’94 | Watch November ’21 Live Stream |
| October 2021 | Carbonated Warbler | Carbonated Warbler | Artist Didier Mutel and Bookseller Gerald W. Cloud | Watch October ’21 Live Stream |
| September 2021 | Chestnut-sided Warbler | Chestnut-sided Warbler | SC&A Staff | Watch September ’21 Live Stream |
| May 2021 | Hermit Thrush | Hermit Thrush | Peter Logan, Bowdoin Class of 1975 and author of Audubon in Labrador | Watch May ’21 Live Stream |
| April 2021 | Loggerhead Shrike | Loggerhead Shrike | Marshall Iliff, Bowdoin Class of 1997 and Project Leader at eBird | Watch April ’21 Live Stream |
| March 2021 | Red-shouldered Hawk | Red-shouldered Hawk | Scott Weidensaul, ornithologist and managing editor of Birds of Maine (Princeton University Press, 2020) | Watch March ’21 Live Stream |
| February 2021 | Cuvier’s Kinglet | Audubon mystery bird | Katie Galletta, Bowdoin Class of 2021 | Watch February ’21 Live Stream |
| December 2020 | Rice Bird | Bobolink | Jacqueline L. Scott, Black Outdoors, PhD student | Watch December ’20 Live Stream |
| November 2020 | Painted Finch | Painted Bunting | Members of Bowdoin Class of 2024, enrolled in Prof. Dana Byrd’s class Faked, Forged, Stolen, and Repatriated: Crimes Against Art | Watch November ’20 Live Stream |
| October 2020 | Chuck-will’s Widow | Chuck-will’s Widow | SC&A Staff | Watch October ’20 Live Stream |
| September 2020 | Red-tailed Hawk | Red-tailed Hawk | Gallerist and Audubon Mural Project Founder Avi Gitler | Watch September ’20 Live Stream |
| March 2020 | Black & Yellow Warbler | Magnolia Warbler | Birder and Photographer Don Reimer | Watch March ’20 Live Stream |
| February 2020 | Blue-green Warbler | Cerulean Warbler | Sylvia Bosco, Bowdoin Class of 2021 | N/A |
| December 2019 | Azure Warbler | Cerulean Warbler | Jeff Wells, Boreal Song Bird Initiative at the National Audubon Society | Watch December ’19 Live Stream |
| November 2019 | Ruby-throated Humming Bird | Ruby-throated Hummingbird | Lauren Fitzgerald, Bowdoin Class of 2000 | Watch November ’19 Live Stream |
| October 2019 | Barred Owl | Barred Owl | Katie Galletta, Bowdoin Class of 2021 | Watch October ’19 Live Stream |
| September 2019 | Traill’s Flycatcher | Willow Flycatcher | Matthew Stuart, Professor of Philosophy | Watch September ’19 Live Stream |
| July 2019 | Summer Red Bird | Summer Tanager | SC&A Staff | Watch July ’19 Page-Turning, Part 2 |
| July 2019 | Cedar Bird | Cedar Waxwing | Birder Ian Carlsen | Watch July ’19 Live Stream, Part 1 |
| June 2019 | Orchard Oriole | Orchard Oriole | SC&A Staff | Watch June ’19 Live Stream |
| May 2019 | Ruffed Grouse | Ruffed Grouse | Author and Naturalist Susan Hand Shetterly | Watch May ’19 Live Stream |
| April 2019 | American Redstart | American Redstart | Shana Stewart Deeds, Laboratory Instructor in Biology and Environmental Studies | Watch April ’19 Live Stream |
| March 2019 | Crested Titmouse | Tufted Titmouse | James O’Shea, Bowdoin Class of 2020 | Watch March ’19 Live Stream |
| February 2019 | Kentucky Warbler | Kentucky Warbler | Brendan Murtha, Bowdoin Class of 2021 | Watch February ’19 Live Stream |
| January 2019 | Gold-winged Woodpecker | Northern Flicker | Book artist Rebecca Goodale | Watch January ’19 Live Stream |
| December 2018 | Stanley Hawk | Cooper’s Hawk | Seth Benz, Director of Bird Ecology Program, Schoodic Insitute, Acadia National Park | Watch December ’18 Live Stream |
| November 2018 | Children’s Warbler | Yellow Warbler | Michael Boardman, artist and naturalist | Watch November ’18 Live Stream |
| October 2018 | Worm eating warbler | Work-eating Warbler | Havana Coso-Desumet, Bowdoin Class of 2020 | Watch October ’18 Live Stream |
| September 2018 | American Goldfinch | American Goldfinch | Colin Windhorst, Dennysville Historical Society | Watch September ’18 Live Stream |
| August 2018 | Black-billed Cuckoo | Black-billed Cuckoo | SC&A Staff | Watch August ’18 Live Stream |
| July 2018 | White-headed Eagle | Bald Eagle | SC&A Staff | Watch July ’18 Live Stream |
| June 2018 | Vigor’s Warbler | Pine Warbler | Craig Hupper, Class of 1983, and grandson of Birds of America donor Roscoe H. Hupper | Watch June ’18 Live Stream |
| May 2018 | Towhe Bunting | Eastern Towhee | Patty Jones, Assistant Professor of Biology and Director of the Bowdoin College Scientific Station on Kent Island | Watch May ’18 Live Stream |
| April 2018 | Solitary Flycatcher or Vireo | Blue-headed Vireo | Biologist Derek Lovitch, owner of Wild Bird Supply in Freeport, Maine | Watch April ’18 Live Stream, Part 1 |
| April 2018 | Solitary Flycatcher or Vireo | Blue-headed Vireo | Biologist Derek Lovitch, owner of Wild Bird Supply in Freeport, Maine | Watch April ’18 Live Stream, Part 2 |
| March 2018 | Red-headed Woodpecker | Red-headed Woodpecker | Noah Perlut, A ssociate Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at the University of New England | N/A |
| February 2018 | Carolina Parrot | Carolina Parakeet | Margaret & Fritz Buschmann, Siesta Sanctuary, Assisted Living for Retired Parrots | Watch February ’18 Live Stream |
| January 2018 | Song Sparrow | Song Sparrow | Melissa Cullina, Director of Botanical Research and Herbarium at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens | Watch January ’18 Live Stream, Part 1 |
| January 2018 | Song Sparrow | Song Sparrow | Melissa Cullina, Director of Botanical Research and Herbarium at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens | Watch January ’18 Live Stream, Part 2 |
| January 2018 | Song Sparrow | Song Sparrow | Melissa Cullina, Director of Botanical Research and Herbarium at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens | Watch January ’18 Live Stream, Part 3 |
| December 2017 | Louisiana Yellow Throat | Common Yellowthroat | Don Deerborn, Bates College Professor of Biology | Watch December ’17 Live Stream |
| November 2017 | Maryland Yellow Throat | Common Yellowthroat | Kristen Lindquist, Poet and Naturalist | Watch November ’17 Live Stream |
| October 2017 | Purple Martin | Purple Martin | SC&A Staff | Watch October ’17 Live Stream |
| September 2017 | Mocking bird | Northern mockingbird | Doug Hitchcox, Staff Naturalist at Maine Audubon | Watch September ’17 Live Stream |
| August 2017 | Blue winged yellow warbler | Blue-winged warbler | SC&A Staff | Watch August ’17 Live Stream |
| July 2017 | Louisiana Waterthrush | Louisiana Water Thrush | SC&A Staff | Watch July ’17 Live Stream |
| June 2017 | Bewick’s Wren | Bewick’s Wren | SC&A Staff | Watch June ’17 Live Stream |
| May 2017 | Carolina Pigeon | Mourning Dove | Susan Wegner, Associate Professor of Art History | Watch May ’17 Live Stream |
| April 2017 | Great-footed Hawk | Peregrine Falcon | Matt Klingle, Associate Professor of History and Environmental Studies | Watch April ’17 Live Stream |
| March 2017 | Blue Yellow Back Warbler | Northern Parula | Peter Logan, Bowdoin Class of 1975 and author of Audubon in Labrador | Watch March ’17 Live Stream, Part 1 |
| March 2017 | Blue Yellow Back Warbler | Northern Parula | Peter Logan, Bowdoin Class of 1975 and author of Audubon in Labrador | Watch March ’17 Live Stream, Part 2 |
| February 2017 | Prairie Warbler | Prairie Warbler | Birder Thomas Hayward & Botanist Susan Hayward | Watch February ’17 Live Stream |
| January 2017 | Snow Bird | Dark-eyed Junco | SC&A Staff | Watch January ’17 Live Stream |
| December 2016 | Baltimore Oriole | Baltimore Oriole | Ecologist Justin Schuetz, Bowdoin Class of 1994 | Watch December ’16 Live Stream |
| November 2016 | Bird of Washington | Bald Eagle | SC&A Staff | Watch November ’16 Live Stream |
| October 2016 | Brown Lark | American Pipit | SC&A Staff | Watch October ’16 Live Stream |
| September 2016 | Selby’s Fly catcher | Hooded warbler | Nat Wheelwright, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Natural Sciences in the Department of Biology at Bowdoin College | N/A |
| August 2016 | White throated Sparrow | White throated Sparrow | SC&A Staff | N/A |
| July 2016 | Purple Grakle, or Common Crow Blackbird | Common Grakle | SC&A Staff | Watch July ’16 Live Stream |
| June 2016 | Great American Hen & Young | Wild Turkey | SC&A Staff | Watch June ’16 Live Stream |
| May 2016 | Bonaparte’s Flycatcher | Canada Warbler | SC&A Staff | Watch May ’16 Live Stream |
| April 2016 | Purple Finch | Purple Finch | SC&A Staff | N/A |
| March 2016 | Prothonotary Warbler | Prothonotary Warbler | SC&A Staff | N/A |
| February 2016 | Yellow-billed Cuckoo | Yellow-billed Cuckoo | SC&A Staff | N/A |
| January 2016 | Wild Turkey | Wild Turkey | SC&A Staff | N/A |