Audubon is an important historical figure. What a great way to frame an episode about his life's work, the mystery of a lost species of American Eagle. Well done!
Great show History Guy! I have a Native American friend who had told me about 20 years ago that he saw a huge bird in the mountains of northeast Pennsylvania. He said it had a 10 to 11 foot wing span and was sitting on the ground and upon seeing him flew up through the trees. He referred to it as a Thunderbird. So perhaps this Washington's Eagle is the Thunderbird the Natives refer to in stories and paintings and petroglyphs. I live in PA in Lancaster Co. Where history abounds and I Love It as well. I Thank You So Much for your history reports. You've become one of my favorite places to visit. I find myself watching story after story and loving every minute. My daughter and I are the keeper of our families archives. Our roots and how we came to be here is one of the greatest human stories. Many Thanks again! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania
Hi Daveyjo, I'm writing a book about Thunderbirds, with a heavy focus on Pennsylvania sightings. Do you think your friend would be willing to share his story with me?
When I was a teenager in SE PA, I saw a bird in the trees in our backyard either two or three times. It was huge. At the time I thought that it was a Golden Eagle, because I was a nerd and knew even then that juvenile Bald Eagles didn't have that coloring, but the Washington's Eagle fits with what I saw. The range is wrong for Golden Eagles, and it was easily 10 feet by wingspan. My first thought upon seeing this video now, as an adult, is that we ought to be asking more of the First Nations folks about this, because they would obviously know more if they have enough connections to their ancestral stories to keep the line unbroken or able to be reconstructed. The idea that these rare birds could have inspired some of the Thunderbird legends is SO SO cool!!!
A billion or so years ago, when I was a junior in high school, I won an award at my local Houston, Texas science fair. It was for a study of solar energy, so I have no idea why I won an award named after Audubon, but I did. Thanks, HG, for helping me to appreciate the man behind it. Even after 50-some years, I feel some newly-realized pride in my accomplishment.
This was one of your best commentaries and I’ve watched many hours of your stories! Your heartfelt love of good stories really lands with the viewer. Bravo!
I've seen this bird. I'm two months from turning 32. I was 17 on Father's Day with my older brother and father at Lake Monroe in Indiana. We spent the day boating in my dad's newly restored 50's boat. It was memorable, because we had watched at least 15-20 different Bald eagles throughout the day. Just before we left we were watching two Bald eagles fly over us, and from just over the treetops a giant golden brown eagle flew over the two Bald eagles dwarfing them. This bird was massive. We immediately tried to use our phone's limited internet at the time to discover what this bird was, but we found nothing. After returning home we poured over the internet trying to find this bird. We couldn't find anything. A few months later we talked to the wildlife refuge folks in Hoosier National Forest and at Lake Monroe, but all they could figure is that maybe, possibly, it could be some kind of condor. We looked up every American condor before we had talked with those folks, and not one looked like the giant eagle we had watched dwarf the other two. Look around Lake Monroe in Indiana. You'll find this bird.
It's funny I was going through the comments to make my comment that I've seen this bird in Canada and I know the difference between a golden eagle because I saw plenty of them and I was telling my girlfriend who was born there that I saw a giant eagle that was so big and she thought I was imagining it size
@@simplythebest4341 I grew up in Columbus and Brown County parts of Indiana. Currently I'm kind of all over the state due to my work. Some days I'm up North and some days we're down South.
@@legacyShredder1 it's funny I was going to mention that I would always go to Brown County the only things I know about Indiana LOL is Brown County Park my family loves going there
I think I've actually seen this bird. Up until a few moments ago I had not a clue what that huge eagle was but I knew it was at least half again the size of a Golden eagle which had a nesting tree some 5 miles south of us. So I had seen Golden Eagles in flight several times before, about to loose sight of it for buildings close to me VS his flight path, I walked between the buildings to continue the observation but I could not locate him ever again. Really got my goat because a few seconds just wasn't enough to slake my curiosity of what I was looking at. This event so far back in my memory it's hard to say if it was the 70s or 80s, it was an unexplainably massive eagle of some sort. High plains of Colorado, Big Sandy Creek, Aroya. Congrats on recent 100K, couldn't happen to a better channel, you put the human into history and that makes it real.
My mom used to love watching the birds from the big slider window at the back of my uncles house. She stayed there the last fifteen years of her life and she, her brother and her sister-in-law delighted in the comings and goings of all sorts of birds. There was a pond back there and so there were ducks and swans and a great blue heron. There were finches and humming birds and blue jays and anyone who came to visit heard all the tales of their antics. Of course a copy of “Birds of North America” was always at hand.
Beautifully done Lance. Wonderful topic, and as usual I learned something I knew very little about. To say Audubon’s work is astounding is truly an understatement. The drawings and painting alone are far above exceptional. This man had breathtaking God given talent and he most certainly didn’t let it go to waste like so many do today. Thank you for a great historical lesson. May you one day see that fabulous eagle and I hope you let the rest of us know when it happens!!
I remember watching a television documentary some years ago about Audubon and his book. And you have to admire anyone who would go to such lengths to achieve his goal. And seeing the illustrations shown on the documentary I have to say I can understand why his books go for such prices. Though I personally think they are priceless in the truest sense of the word. And I to believe that somewhere out there is Washington's Eagle. And knowing what my fellow humans can be like I hope it has enough sense to keep out of the way. Look what happened to the Passenger Pigeon.
Honestly, I can't understand (and never will) how anyone could ever hit the thumbs-down on your video lessons. It should be a crime! It's the one thing on UA-cam that I don't like. I was raised to believe that, "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all." Clearly, some people choose to remain ignorant. Thank you as always for your knowledge, skills and passion for such timeless history!
Robert Potthast -- my response does not pertain to HG of course, but seeing a large thumbs down to thumbs up ratio (especially if you're not familiar with the channel) can be seen as a sign to not waste time on that video. It's sort of like seeing "History Channel" in the title.
Robert Potthast I get your point however, it's a tool and much like a survey. Take for instance, I make metal art. If I post something on Instagram and I get lots of likes, I'm on to something marketable. Not very many likes, probably not going to be as marketable. Very useful as I'm just getting started.
Robert Potthast -- Giving this teacher a thumbs down is like throwing mud on the Mona Lisa.Your comment about people choosing to remain ignorant really hit home with me. More and more people these days really are choosing to remain ignorant. Excellent comment.
The Greater Eagle is out there for sure. Maybe the washington eagle flys deep out at Sea and hunts large fish, only coming back to the cliff side to rest and to lay eggs. Spending most of its life soaring the sky above the sea would help explain why sightings are so rare. Or it was hunted to extinction, being such a magnificent creature, everyone would have wanted to hunt one. Or whatever happened to the haast eagle happened to the W. Eagle as well.
I agree, I think it is out there, just an extremely rare sighting. I don't think it was hunted to extinction, then lots of people would have seen it and there would probably be at least one specimen surviving.
If it existed it was probably in an ecological relic much like the california condor found itself at the same time, functionally extinct but still etching out a living in obscurity. Only unlike the california condor, the last minute and intensive breeding programs by humans never occurred for it, facing a slow extinction thanks to low population size and the inevitable inbreeding and the complications that come from that. Slowly dwindling down at such a rate and in such a secluded region of Alasko-Cascadia that it's only remnants were obscure sightings by 17th century observers trying to document them and a legend on the local natives of the northwest pacific. With any fossil deposits being non existent or out of reach, this bird would of been yet another animal that we humans would of never known about thanks to absence in fossil record and extinct before proper documentation had in not of been for the efforts of a Mr. John J Audubon. A sad tale but really the best one that doesn't tarnish anyone's reputation. And if it does still exist, I predict this species is at such a level of inbreeding and low population size that even with human rescue is already doomed.
@@KaiserToons Well said, Audubon himself said it was extremely rare in his time, and there was lots of uninhibited areas of America then. I think it was real, but was already critically endangered in his time. However, I wonder if they could breed with other eagles? If so the defendants of those hybrids still have their DNA, and maybe modern science could bring them back. Then again a small relic population my exist deep in the back country, rarely seen, and sightings my be dismissed as an exceptionally large golden eagle, especially if those who saw it were unaware of Audubon's Washington eagle.
Thank you so much for sharing, History Guy. I have, of course, heard of the Audubon Society, but knew literally nothing about the man himself. Even then the most I can say about my association with the group is that I bought “an as seen on TV” clock inspired by his work that sounded a different bird at each hour. I gave it as a Christmas present and it brought much joy to the family for over 20 years (and counting as far as I know). I am blessed to be able to have lunch once a week with an older gentleman who is a botanist. If I were able to have lunch or a whiskey, beer, coffee, tea, lemonade, water or whatever with someone like you as well, I don’t know that I would be able to contain myself. Much thanks for all your work.
I’m not a whack job (don’t we all say such things?), but I lived on the Oregon coast for 10yrs. I saw bald and golden eagles on a regular basis. There was a bird that was identified verbally to me as a “sea eagle”. I had an birding book, never saw this one identified in the book, and just didn’t worry about that, could be a transient Canadian bird. It was huge. Much heavier than the bald eagles that nested in the trees all over the county I lived in. I know the bald eagles are significantly different in conformation than a golden eagles. I’ve lived in the American southwest and seen Golden’s regularly. The bird I saw, was at the surfs edge. Bald Eagles don’t usually perch there, preferring the bay, or slower rivers for fishing, and come to rest in trees. This bird was heavy, and with attractive plumage. It was an eagle, which look very different than smaller hawks, kestrels and vultures. This bird exists. It’s just not being properly recorded, whether by birders choice, or considered misrepresented, this bird exists.
Could it be a Steller's Sea Eagle? There have been vagrants spotted in Southern Alaska, maybe its your bird? They have black and white plumage, very beautiful.
I am not a bird watcher, but this video gave me an idea. I was living in SE Missouri during the goose migration. I was driving south of East Prairie, MO and saw what looked like a Golden Eagle standing in a plowed field. I was driving in my Jeep Liberty and stopped to look at the bird and the Eagle calmly looked at me. We looked each other in the eye from about 30 feet. I would guess he stood about 5 feet. I asked local hunters about my sighting and was told it was a Goose Eagle, that they come through with the goose migration eating geese. I wonder if Washington’s Eagle could have adapted it’s habitat?
The waiting areas throughout the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (in New Hampshire) feature full-sized prints from Audubon’s “Birds”. They make waiting in the hospital a bit less boring, provided you take the time to observe the birds.
I particularly enjoyed this as I did a research paper on Audubon for a high school history class, and the "Bird of Washington" was one of the anecdotes I remember finding particularly intriguing. I remember learning that the "Bird of Washington" was the species Audubon wished had been chosen as our national bird, and that he was "grieved" that the Bald Eagle had been chosen instead, agreeing with Ben Franklin that it was a bird of "bad moral character" and a "rank coward".
So there are basically three alternative explanations of the Washington's Eagle mystery; (1) Misidentified Bald Eagle or Golden Eagle (which seems very much dismissed by the evidence). (2) An actual new (and possibly extinct or endangered) species currently undescribed by the modern scientific community. (3) A deliberate hoax (which perhaps seems the least likely). Personally, I choose to side with the second option, as it simply seems far better supported than any of the other options. (And yes I came here from billschannel!)
@@hoosierhiver I did, I only found further accusations, nothing close to him being proven a liar in regards to Boone. Perhaps you could enlighten me if I missed something.
I read a lot of history from that era. When he wanted Boone to go hunting with him Boone was an old man and going blind. I'd have to go back and find the sources in different books which I'm not going to do.
It's quite possible the golden eagle was so rare back then was because it was already on it's last leg as a species. It was only its sheer size that allowed them to see it. If it was a small lizard it would probably have passed unnoticed.
I think its entirely possible for a species to fly under the scientific radar for that reason thats what I think happened to Bigfoot it was a unknown primate that went extinct probably around the early 1900's if not before
That's crazy... I'm damn-near certain one of those buzzed my school in 3rd grade. One section was shaped like an L and an _enormous_ eagle flew down and turned in it, for SOME reason. My class was on the exit path, so we only saw an enormous black WHOOSH (it blocked the sunlight...) Once recess hit and the teachers/kids got outside we found out that the classes on the other side of the L witnessed the approach, as idle children on a spring day are likely to notice a semi-mythical being flying towards their windows... The _teachers_ said it's wingspan was "at least 15 feet" - the teacher kept saying something about it's wing span _over_ the monkey bars... The other teacher on that side that saw it, agreed it appeared that big but they ended up giving up, as it was reddish/brown and "only a bald eagle gets that big" A day later (this had, somewhat, become a thing with students) someone discovered the golden eagle in the library, and the teachers just said it must have been an optical illusion and a golden eagle... Which never made sense to me, because of how _shocking_ that thing was, flying past our window and how certain those teachers were of its size. And they never explained why or how there would have been an optical illusion... Bald eagles are, actually, kind of common near me - I've even seen them as roadkill, sadly. Point is, we're pretty used to big (bald) eagles, and this thing shocked the _adults..._ Was in WA state, though... We have the water, but I'm not sure if anyone else has seen anything like that around WA.
I am blest to live in the confluence of the Cascades and the Sierras. It has been a pleasure to see several of each, the Golden and the Bald eagles. Thank you for this further eagle information, and with no mention of turkeys, which we also have.
Another fabulous story. I live a dozen miles from James Audubon State Park in Kentucky... always enjoy the displays there. Had not heard of the Washington Eagle though.. Will keep my binoculars close at hand....
Audobons work is superb. One feels like the living bird itself is in front of ones eyes, as the potraits are looked upon. The detail is astounding and beautiful. In all of his pictures, that I have seen.🤗...two months after myself and my husband moved about 30 blocks away from where we were luving, in Philadelphia, we saw a golden eagle stick around our new neighborhood for about 2 days. We are much closer to the Delaware River, and are in a much....cleaner and less crowded area, more green, bigger yard for the city with atree and resident squirrels, birds of 6 types, 1 possum pair, 1 racoon family....well I thought of seeing this beauty hover overhead for the short time it did, as a very good sign. Turned out I was right. Couldnt be better. Loving my hood and my new yard charges!!🤗😁😃
I have to imagine it is just one of the crazy large sea eagles you find in like eastern Russia, Northern Japan. I do believe recently one had been spotted here in the US and had made it's way pretty far east into the US too. just my guess i've seen those sea eagles up close at a zoo in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. they are ridiculously huge
So here's this guy on trial for eating a bald eagle. The judge goes through everything and pronounces the guy guilty. Before he passes sentence, he calls the guy right up close to the bench and says, "Before I announce your sentence, I want to know something - how was it?" Guy thinks for a bit and says, "Well your honor, it tasted like dodo but the texture was more like carrier pigeon."
To heck with people who do the thumbs down! What were they expecting? Are they just being mean spirited?! I enjoyed every video that you do, and I thank you for the time and effort you put into each one of these.💕
Holy heck I just bought this guys book with all the pictures of birds I didn’t know what it was but it looked neat and only cost me a buck or two! I bought it from a Michigan nature center my aunt works at they had a book sale.
There were a few of the plates that were based on specimens that he had acquired from another ornithologist that turned out to be South American species. There were no others where it has been questioned whether they were a species.
Love your channel. One request, the volume changes between the intro and presentation. It means turning down for intro and then back up to hear your talk. Can they be set the same?
I seen a huge eagle like that although location doesn't fit, checking out an area next to a creek that had recently been burnt through by a fire it was a huge ass eagle just hanging out on the ground. I always used to tell my friends as a kid that it was a phoenix. It look like it had just got done giving itself a dust bath, I don't even know if eagles do that but it was a humongous freaking bird.
I think that a man with his passion and extensive knowledge and experience ALL his life must be taken with all respect.I believe this bird does or did exist,and if it is extinct,it it truly a huge loss.I don't understand why research CV has not been undertaken by anyone to seek out and confirm any evidence of it.In comments I see at least one person who has said he's seen one...maybe it would be a great undertaking for a nature show,college student,or university study.
Excellent video! I personally would love to see a video on the history and discovery of the Water Ouzel, also know as the American Dipper. I think it would be a informative video on a bird is not widely outside of the Sierra Nevadas and Rocky Mountain West.
Theres a residential neighborhood around the corner from where I grew up in Western New York that bears his name. I always was a bit curious as to who he was, needless to say that was more interesting then I thought it would be.
Can you do a short on the forgetting of history. My mother in law has long loved history, but I could not get her write it down. She had a stroke sunday and it looks as though what she knows will soon disappear. Like my great grandfather's story. He came to this country to escape famine. He signed onto a tramp steamer, jumped ship in British Columbia and traveled over land from there to the mines in Telluride Colorado in the 1870s. He never talked about that epic journey. It is long forgotten now. So many things vanish into the mists of time. Lost forever and many deserve to be remembered.
I have a book that was published in 1993 by the New York Natural History Society to accompany a traveling exhibition entitled "John James Audubon: Watercolor Paintings for the Birds of America." The plate facing page 108 is remarkably similar to the image you show at 6:08. The bird itself is the same. The backgrounds differ: where yours shows a ship on a starboard tact, ocean cliffs and headland, my plate shows the bird on a lump of rock against a blank cream background with no scenery at all. The text (on p. 108) says Audubon called it the Bird of Washington and that it was painted in New Orleans in early 1822. The text agrees with you in saying Audubon described 23 new species and 12 subspecies, but it also says that some of the other birds that he thought to be new species were, in several instances, known species in immature or unusual plumages. The author of the text that accompanies the plate (Carole Anne Slatkin) states "Audubon believed that the eagle he documented was related to the Bald Eagle . . . and evidently considered it a powerful icon, a symbol appropriate to the Father of his [Audubon's] adopted country. Ever the zealous entrepreneur and showman, Audubon may also have seen a fine opportunity for good personal public relations in such a gesture." The people who prepared the exhibition note that bald eagles do not gain their mature white head and tail plumage until they are four or five, and, in short, the curators consider the bird to be an immature bald eagle.
Just when I thought I knew about every North American cryptologistical species. Could it be something he made up like map makers make up towns or dictionary makers make up words just so they can catch peoples who infringe their copyrights?
The story I love is Amerigo Vespucci's name becoming attached to the New World. He was a map[ maker, always wrote his name large, and I can guess people would say "Hand me Amerigo's map," then just "The Amerigo map" and finally "America".
I once saw an Audubon Elephant Portfolio in one of the two Great Museums in SF. The De Young Museum, or the Legion of Honor. It was a huge publication, measuring 39 by 26 inches
Ya know, a couple of years ago I saw an enormous light brown eagle standing in a field about 15 yards from the road, looking intently, with that attitude that eagles have, at the broad open slope running down to the bottomland by the West River on Maryland's western shore. It was much larger than the bald eagles we usually see in these parts. Whatever it's species, ( I assumed it was a golden eagle ) I was glad I was in my truck, and not afoot.
Great series,would you do more natural history,maybe how parks were created to protect species from over hunting/poaching,and how American people were against this,and how they came to support these natural treasures
I feel the 'Washington's Eagle' is an extinct (or near extinct) bird rather than mistaken identity, I wonder if connected in some way to or the basis of the thunderbird legend?
I'm pretty sure they've nailed down the Thunderbird stories from the tribes in the SW region of the US, as matching an extinct species of super-large condor, skeletons of which are still being found in the Andes.
Guys this bird isn’t dead it mostly Dwells in the Great Lakes and in Canada. Yes it is the truth behind the thunder bird. They have up to three young at a time and has a wing span of 10ft to 18ft. This is highly classified fuck it. When you see this bill suck a fat one🖕🏽
Hi, I enjoyed this “5 minutes” as I do all your snippets of history. Australia, where I reside, has its own John Audubon, viz., John Gould, an English ornithologist of the nineteenth century. As with Audubon, his work is also cited in Charles Darwin’s “On the origin of species”. Perhaps Gould might warrant a “snippet” if it’s not going over too much of the same ground. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gould Just a thought. :-) Cheers, Alex Smith.
That was my first thought too. Like how Thomas Guide maps would always slip in one tiny street or cul-de-sac that wasn't really there -- just to trip the copycats up . . .
After doing some research, I believe the eagle to be a white-tailed sea eagle, which doesn't always have an obviously white tail, especially if not in flight. Sometimes white tails are difficult for me to see on bald eagles, due to the sun's brightness against the white plumage. I only see the dark parts of the bird as it flies. The white-tailed sea eagle has also been seen in North America before at various places and verified multiple times. It also has one of the longest wing spans of any eagle and is a rival for the longest wingspan, if you compare the different ranking lists out there for longest wingspan. Everything else about it, matches the description. It is entirely possible that the eagles may have found a home in North America during a span of milder winters, where Canadian lakes and rivers particularly, weren't freezing over. Otherwise, it would struggle to survive on a diet of fish in North America, in the winter, unless it stuck to coastal areas.
John J. Audubon is an interesting subject and you did a good job in your report. But, when I was a child, I remember hearing (and seeing) the story of John J. Studebaker, I believe from Ohio. He went west because he heard of the supposed "gold in them thar hills." He found no gold, so, made wheel barrows and wagons for his fellow miners who were more successful than he. He moved back to his home state and built wagons for sale. Later, after the gasoline combustion engine came into use, he built cars. I wounder if you have done any research on him or plan to, because, he would fit your type of presentations on you tube, which I thoroughly enjoy, by the way. I have learned a few things from you.
This makes me think of Lewis and Clark reporting that a flock of flying squirrels flew overhead and made the sky darken like and eclipse. Haven't seen many flying squirrels lately. We need the time machine to check it all out.
Audubon is an important historical figure. What a great way to frame an episode about his life's work, the mystery of a lost species of American Eagle. Well done!
Great show History Guy! I have a Native American friend who had told me about 20 years ago that he saw a huge bird in the mountains of northeast Pennsylvania. He said it had a 10 to 11 foot wing span and was sitting on the ground and upon seeing him flew up through the trees. He referred to it as a Thunderbird. So perhaps this Washington's Eagle is the Thunderbird the Natives refer to in stories and paintings and petroglyphs. I live in PA in Lancaster Co. Where history abounds and I Love It as well. I Thank You So Much for your history reports. You've become one of my favorite places to visit. I find myself watching story after story and loving every minute. My daughter and I are the keeper of our families archives. Our roots and how we came to be here is one of the greatest human stories. Many Thanks again! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania
Hi Daveyjo, I'm writing a book about Thunderbirds, with a heavy focus on Pennsylvania sightings. Do you think your friend would be willing to share his story with me?
When I was a teenager in SE PA, I saw a bird in the trees in our backyard either two or three times. It was huge. At the time I thought that it was a Golden Eagle, because I was a nerd and knew even then that juvenile Bald Eagles didn't have that coloring, but the Washington's Eagle fits with what I saw. The range is wrong for Golden Eagles, and it was easily 10 feet by wingspan. My first thought upon seeing this video now, as an adult, is that we ought to be asking more of the First Nations folks about this, because they would obviously know more if they have enough connections to their ancestral stories to keep the line unbroken or able to be reconstructed. The idea that these rare birds could have inspired some of the Thunderbird legends is SO SO cool!!!
A billion or so years ago, when I was a junior in high school, I won an award at my local Houston, Texas science fair. It was for a study of solar energy, so I have no idea why I won an award named after Audubon, but I did. Thanks, HG, for helping me to appreciate the man behind it. Even after 50-some years, I feel some newly-realized pride in my accomplishment.
Fantastic. I could easily binge watch this channel until I have seen them all or die of hunger.
This was one of your best commentaries and I’ve watched many hours of your stories! Your heartfelt love of good stories really lands with the viewer. Bravo!
I've seen this bird. I'm two months from turning 32. I was 17 on Father's Day with my older brother and father at Lake Monroe in Indiana. We spent the day boating in my dad's newly restored 50's boat. It was memorable, because we had watched at least 15-20 different Bald eagles throughout the day. Just before we left we were watching two Bald eagles fly over us, and from just over the treetops a giant golden brown eagle flew over the two Bald eagles dwarfing them. This bird was massive. We immediately tried to use our phone's limited internet at the time to discover what this bird was, but we found nothing. After returning home we poured over the internet trying to find this bird. We couldn't find anything. A few months later we talked to the wildlife refuge folks in Hoosier National Forest and at Lake Monroe, but all they could figure is that maybe, possibly, it could be some kind of condor. We looked up every American condor before we had talked with those folks, and not one looked like the giant eagle we had watched dwarf the other two.
Look around Lake Monroe in Indiana. You'll find this bird.
It's funny I was going through the comments to make my comment that I've seen this bird in Canada and I know the difference between a golden eagle because I saw plenty of them and I was telling my girlfriend who was born there that I saw a giant eagle that was so big and she thought I was imagining it size
That is totally awesome my mom's family is from Indiana and I grew up going over there what part of Indiana are you in?
@@simplythebest4341 I grew up in Columbus and Brown County parts of Indiana. Currently I'm kind of all over the state due to my work. Some days I'm up North and some days we're down South.
@@legacyShredder1 it's funny I was going to mention that I would always go to Brown County the only things I know about Indiana LOL is Brown County Park my family loves going there
@@legacyShredder1 Crazy my aunt lives in Columbus and I've been there several times. Columbus is alright
I think I've actually seen this bird. Up until a few moments ago I had not a clue what that huge eagle was but I knew it was at least half again the size of a Golden eagle which had a nesting tree some 5 miles south of us. So I had seen Golden Eagles in flight several times before, about to loose sight of it for buildings close to me VS his flight path, I walked between the buildings to continue the observation but I could not locate him ever again. Really got my goat because a few seconds just wasn't enough to slake my curiosity of what I was looking at. This event so far back in my memory it's hard to say if it was the 70s or 80s, it was an unexplainably massive eagle of some sort. High plains of Colorado, Big Sandy Creek, Aroya. Congrats on recent 100K, couldn't happen to a better channel, you put the human into history and that makes it real.
My mom used to love watching the birds from the big slider window at the back of my uncles house. She stayed there the last fifteen years of her life and she, her brother and her sister-in-law delighted in the comings and goings of all sorts of birds. There was a pond back there and so there were ducks and swans and a great blue heron. There were finches and humming birds and blue jays and anyone who came to visit heard all the tales of their antics. Of course a copy of “Birds of North America” was always at hand.
Beautifully done Lance. Wonderful topic, and as usual I learned something I knew very little about. To say Audubon’s work is astounding is truly an understatement. The drawings and painting alone are far above exceptional. This man had breathtaking God given talent and he most certainly didn’t let it go to waste like so many do today. Thank you for a great historical lesson. May you one day see that fabulous eagle and I hope you let the rest of us know when it happens!!
Out of the 20-30 videos of yours that I have seen, this is my favorite so far. Thank You!
I remember watching a television documentary some years ago about Audubon and his book. And you have to admire anyone who would go to such lengths to achieve his goal. And seeing the illustrations shown on the documentary I have to say I can understand why his books go for such prices. Though I personally think they are priceless in the truest sense of the word.
And I to believe that somewhere out there is Washington's Eagle. And knowing what my fellow humans can be like I hope it has enough sense to keep out of the way. Look what happened to the Passenger Pigeon.
I have been bingeing all of your playlists for a while now. This may be my favorite so far.
Honestly, I can't understand (and never will) how anyone could ever hit the thumbs-down on your video lessons. It should be a crime! It's the one thing on UA-cam that I don't like. I was raised to believe that, "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all."
Clearly, some people choose to remain ignorant.
Thank you as always for your knowledge, skills and passion for such timeless history!
Robert Potthast -- my response does not pertain to HG of course, but seeing a large thumbs down to thumbs up ratio (especially if you're not familiar with the channel) can be seen as a sign to not waste time on that video. It's sort of like seeing "History Channel" in the title.
Robert Potthast I get your point however, it's a tool and much like a survey. Take for instance, I make metal art. If I post something on Instagram and I get lots of likes, I'm on to something marketable. Not very many likes, probably not going to be as marketable. Very useful as I'm just getting started.
Robert Potthast -- Giving this teacher a thumbs down is like throwing mud on the Mona Lisa.Your comment about people choosing to remain ignorant really hit home with me. More and more people these days really are choosing to remain ignorant. Excellent comment.
Just saying this (something people say all over youtube for different channels) can spur some to hit it.
I wonder if a group of disgruntled ex-students that do this he has about the same number of thumbs down on every video
That "I want to believe" poster, but with a bird instead of a UFO.
Now I do as well, thanks.
The Greater Eagle is out there for sure.
Maybe the washington eagle flys deep out at Sea and hunts large fish, only coming back to the cliff side to rest and to lay eggs. Spending most of its life soaring the sky above the sea would help explain why sightings are so rare.
Or it was hunted to extinction, being such a magnificent creature, everyone would have wanted to hunt one. Or whatever happened to the haast eagle happened to the W. Eagle as well.
I agree, I think it is out there, just an extremely rare sighting. I don't think it was hunted to extinction, then lots of people would have seen it and there would probably be at least one specimen surviving.
If it existed it was probably in an ecological relic much like the california condor found itself at the same time, functionally extinct but still etching out a living in obscurity. Only unlike the california condor, the last minute and intensive breeding programs by humans never occurred for it, facing a slow extinction thanks to low population size and the inevitable inbreeding and the complications that come from that. Slowly dwindling down at such a rate and in such a secluded region of Alasko-Cascadia that it's only remnants were obscure sightings by 17th century observers trying to document them and a legend on the local natives of the northwest pacific. With any fossil deposits being non existent or out of reach, this bird would of been yet another animal that we humans would of never known about thanks to absence in fossil record and extinct before proper documentation had in not of been for the efforts of a Mr. John J Audubon. A sad tale but really the best one that doesn't tarnish anyone's reputation.
And if it does still exist, I predict this species is at such a level of inbreeding and low population size that even with human rescue is already doomed.
@@KaiserToons Well said, Audubon himself said it was extremely rare in his time, and there was lots of uninhibited areas of America then. I think it was real, but was already critically endangered in his time. However, I wonder if they could breed with other eagles? If so the defendants of those hybrids still have their DNA, and maybe modern science could bring them back. Then again a small relic population my exist deep in the back country, rarely seen, and sightings my be dismissed as an exceptionally large golden eagle, especially if those who saw it were unaware of Audubon's Washington eagle.
Have been dealing with ornithoids as a rehabilitater for many years and have never even heard of this bird,thanks!
Thank you so much for sharing, History Guy. I have, of course, heard of the Audubon Society, but knew literally nothing about the man himself. Even then the most I can say about my association with the group is that I bought “an as seen on TV” clock inspired by his work that sounded a different bird at each hour. I gave it as a Christmas present and it brought much joy to the family for over 20 years (and counting as far as I know).
I am blessed to be able to have lunch once a week with an older gentleman who is a botanist. If I were able to have lunch or a whiskey, beer, coffee, tea, lemonade, water or whatever with someone like you as well, I don’t know that I would be able to contain myself. Much thanks for all your work.
What a great piece of history! Thanks for sharing this.
I’m not a whack job (don’t we all say such things?), but I lived on the Oregon coast for 10yrs. I saw bald and golden eagles on a regular basis. There was a bird that was identified verbally to me as a “sea eagle”. I had an birding book, never saw this one identified in the book, and just didn’t worry about that, could be a transient Canadian bird.
It was huge. Much heavier than the bald eagles that nested in the trees all over the county I lived in. I know the bald eagles are significantly different in conformation than a golden eagles. I’ve lived in the American southwest and seen Golden’s regularly. The bird I saw, was at the surfs edge. Bald Eagles don’t usually perch there, preferring the bay, or slower rivers for fishing, and come to rest in trees. This bird was heavy, and with attractive plumage. It was an eagle, which look very different than smaller hawks, kestrels and vultures.
This bird exists. It’s just not being properly recorded, whether by birders choice, or considered misrepresented, this bird exists.
Could it be a Steller's Sea Eagle? There have been vagrants spotted in Southern Alaska, maybe its your bird? They have black and white plumage, very beautiful.
I am not a bird watcher, but this video gave me an idea. I was living in SE Missouri during the goose migration. I was driving south of East Prairie, MO and saw what looked like a Golden Eagle standing in a plowed field. I was driving in my Jeep Liberty and stopped to look at the bird and the Eagle calmly looked at me. We looked each other in the eye from about 30 feet. I would guess he stood about 5 feet. I asked local hunters about my sighting and was told it was a Goose Eagle, that they come through with the goose migration eating geese. I wonder if Washington’s Eagle could have adapted it’s habitat?
Man...this is my favorite one so far !!!! Thank you sir, to tell history like you....
The waiting areas throughout the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (in New Hampshire) feature full-sized prints from Audubon’s “Birds”. They make waiting in the hospital a bit less boring, provided you take the time to observe the birds.
Hi History Guy. Great Story ! Thanks for taking time to share your stories with the public.
I particularly enjoyed this as I did a research paper on Audubon for a high school history class, and the "Bird of Washington" was one of the anecdotes I remember finding particularly intriguing. I remember learning that the "Bird of Washington" was the species Audubon wished had been chosen as our national bird, and that he was "grieved" that the Bald Eagle had been chosen instead, agreeing with Ben Franklin that it was a bird of "bad moral character" and a "rank coward".
So there are basically three alternative explanations of the Washington's Eagle mystery;
(1) Misidentified Bald Eagle or Golden Eagle (which seems very much dismissed by the evidence).
(2) An actual new (and possibly extinct or endangered) species currently undescribed by the modern scientific community.
(3) A deliberate hoax (which perhaps seems the least likely).
Personally, I choose to side with the second option, as it simply seems far better supported than any of the other options. (And yes I came here from billschannel!)
Audubon is a proven liar, he made up a story about hunting with Daniel Boone so my guess is that he made up this bird to attract attention to himself.
@@hoosierhiver Would you care to support that accusation?
Don't take my word for it, look it up.
@@hoosierhiver I did, I only found further accusations, nothing close to him being proven a liar in regards to Boone. Perhaps you could enlighten me if I missed something.
I read a lot of history from that era. When he wanted Boone to go hunting with him Boone was an old man and going blind. I'd have to go back and find the sources in different books which I'm not going to do.
It's quite possible the golden eagle was so rare back then was because it was already on it's last leg as a species. It was only its sheer size that allowed them to see it. If it was a small lizard it would probably have passed unnoticed.
That's what my reaction was also.
I think its entirely possible for a species to fly under the scientific radar for that reason
thats what I think happened to Bigfoot
it was a unknown primate that went extinct probably around the early 1900's if not before
Audubon was very familiar with Golden Eagles and had examined live and dead examples. He knew it wasn't a golden eagle.
Yes but this was much larger than a golden eagle
That's crazy...
I'm damn-near certain one of those buzzed my school in 3rd grade.
One section was shaped like an L and an _enormous_ eagle flew down and turned in it, for SOME reason.
My class was on the exit path, so we only saw an enormous black WHOOSH (it blocked the sunlight...)
Once recess hit and the teachers/kids got outside we found out that the classes on the other side of the L witnessed the approach, as idle children on a spring day are likely to notice a semi-mythical being flying towards their windows...
The _teachers_ said it's wingspan was "at least 15 feet" - the teacher kept saying something about it's wing span _over_ the monkey bars...
The other teacher on that side that saw it, agreed it appeared that big but they ended up giving up, as it was reddish/brown and "only a bald eagle gets that big"
A day later (this had, somewhat, become a thing with students) someone discovered the golden eagle in the library, and the teachers just said it must have been an optical illusion and a golden eagle...
Which never made sense to me, because of how _shocking_ that thing was, flying past our window and how certain those teachers were of its size.
And they never explained why or how there would have been an optical illusion...
Bald eagles are, actually, kind of common near me - I've even seen them as roadkill, sadly.
Point is, we're pretty used to big (bald) eagles, and this thing shocked the _adults..._
Was in WA state, though... We have the water, but I'm not sure if anyone else has seen anything like that around WA.
I am blest to live in the confluence of the Cascades and the Sierras. It has been a pleasure to see several of each, the Golden and the Bald eagles.
Thank you for this further eagle information, and with no mention of turkeys, which we also have.
Michael Dougfir it's spelled blessed dummy. I hate predatory birds.
Hackers ERROR:001 It is spelt either way. Like BURNED or BURNT.
But thanks for speaking up.
Another fabulous story. I live a dozen miles from James Audubon State Park in Kentucky... always enjoy the displays there. Had not heard of the Washington Eagle though.. Will keep my binoculars close at hand....
Audobons work is superb. One feels like the living bird itself is in front of ones eyes, as the potraits are looked upon. The detail is astounding and beautiful. In all of his pictures, that I have seen.🤗...two months after myself and my husband moved about 30 blocks away from where we were luving, in Philadelphia, we saw a golden eagle stick around our new neighborhood for about 2 days. We are much closer to the Delaware River, and are in a much....cleaner and less crowded area, more green, bigger yard for the city with atree and resident squirrels, birds of 6 types, 1 possum pair, 1 racoon family....well I thought of seeing this beauty hover overhead for the short time it did, as a very good sign. Turned out I was right. Couldnt be better. Loving my hood and my new yard charges!!🤗😁😃
...living.haha
......most certainly did not. Who is Bill? I clicked on a lame story about the mothman. And a comment goes up which I did not put up, myself. Idiots.
I haven't heard this story since the 70s. Thank you for the great content.
The most plausible cryptid ever.
Not sure if it would classify as a cryptid, but quite plausible, indeed.
Very fascinating. I love watching birds.
Fascinating! I'd like to see Washington's Eagle some day, too.
" When the bird disagrees with the Field Guide, go with the bird "
- Old Birders Adage
What a fantastic set of videos.
Yes indeed history does deserve to be remembered.
Thank you History Guy for your work.
Keep these videos coming.
Another very well done episode. I think if I ever sat in on one of your classes you'd have to pry me out of the room.
Of your many fine presentations this may be my favorite thank you
I have to imagine it is just one of the crazy large sea eagles you find in like eastern Russia, Northern Japan. I do believe recently one had been spotted here in the US and had made it's way pretty far east into the US too.
just my guess
i've seen those sea eagles up close at a zoo in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. they are ridiculously huge
Yes - Steller's Sea Eagles, who occasionally stray into the American continent. I think they may cross the Straits of Bering from Russia to Alaska.
Everytime I am amazed and richer listening to your videos
So here's this guy on trial for eating a bald eagle. The judge goes through everything and pronounces the guy guilty. Before he passes sentence, he calls the guy right up close to the bench and says, "Before I announce your sentence, I want to know something - how was it?"
Guy thinks for a bit and says, "Well your honor, it tasted like dodo but the texture was more like carrier pigeon."
Excellent as usual. You need your own prime time show.
The best of history, things I never knew! Thanks.
I liked the subtle nod to the ongoing leitmotif of all good stories having some connection to pirates.
What an amazing story
I hope a Washington eagle could be found and get photographed
Excellent episode, off to look at some plates and read about mythical eagles.
Good stuff! Thanks History Guy!
One of your best,and that's saying something!
Welp, You earned a new subscriber.... I love history!
To heck with people who do the thumbs down! What were they expecting? Are they just being mean spirited?! I enjoyed every video that you do, and I thank you for the time and effort you put into each one of these.💕
As always, excellent video!
Holy heck I just bought this guys book with all the pictures of birds I didn’t know what it was but it looked neat and only cost me a buck or two! I bought it from a Michigan nature center my aunt works at they had a book sale.
Great video with great information. I’ll be looking for more
Subscribed 👍🏼
The best channel on you tube!
Another good show old chap.
I learned a ton. Thanks
True real history is so fascinating much like our host & crew!!!🙏👌🐦❣️
were their any other birds in his books in question? Love your stuff
There were a few of the plates that were based on specimens that he had acquired from another ornithologist that turned out to be South American species. There were no others where it has been questioned whether they were a species.
Great as usual please do more.
Great video. This is one of my favourite channels
Anyone here NOT from Bill's channel, and have no idea who Bill is, like me?
svtirefire we collaborated on his channel after this episode aired. ua-cam.com/video/Ke70GDNyo-Y/v-deo.html
No clue who Bill is.
idk who he is and i dont care
svtirefire ....huh?
Jupp
Thank you!
There's a copy in the Salt Lake City library and it's very cool!
Love your channel. One request, the volume changes between the intro and presentation. It means turning down for intro and then back up to hear your talk. Can they be set the same?
Very interesting as always!
beautiful video!!!!
Big thumbs up for the pirate reference.
I seen a huge eagle like that although location doesn't fit, checking out an area next to a creek that had recently been burnt through by a fire it was a huge ass eagle just hanging out on the ground. I always used to tell my friends as a kid that it was a phoenix. It look like it had just got done giving itself a dust bath, I don't even know if eagles do that but it was a humongous freaking bird.
I think that a man with his passion and extensive knowledge and experience ALL his life must be taken with all respect.I believe this bird does or did exist,and if it is extinct,it it truly a huge loss.I don't understand why research CV has not been undertaken by anyone to seek out and confirm any evidence of it.In comments I see at least one person who has said he's seen one...maybe it would be a great undertaking for a nature show,college student,or university study.
This video is a 3-pointer! I knew Audubon was a famous, but...wow.
I would give anything to go back and witness the passenger pigeon in all its glory,a truly beautiful piece of nature.
As you said Audubon was an expert bird watcher
Excellent video! I personally would love to see a video on the history and discovery of the Water Ouzel, also know as the American Dipper. I think it would be a informative video on a bird is not widely outside of the Sierra Nevadas and Rocky Mountain West.
Theres a residential neighborhood around the corner from where I grew up in Western New York that bears his name. I always was a bit curious as to who he was, needless to say that was more interesting then I thought it would be.
Can you do a short on the forgetting of history. My mother in law has long loved history, but I could not get her write it down. She had a stroke sunday and it looks as though what she knows will soon disappear. Like my great grandfather's story. He came to this country to escape famine. He signed onto a tramp steamer, jumped ship in British Columbia and traveled over land from there to the mines in Telluride Colorado in the 1870s. He never talked about that epic journey. It is long forgotten now. So many things vanish into the mists of time. Lost forever and many deserve to be remembered.
I have a book that was published in 1993 by the New York Natural History Society to accompany a traveling exhibition entitled "John James Audubon: Watercolor Paintings for the Birds of America." The plate facing page 108 is remarkably similar to the image you show at 6:08. The bird itself is the same. The backgrounds differ: where yours shows a ship on a starboard tact, ocean cliffs and headland, my plate shows the bird on a lump of rock against a blank cream background with no scenery at all. The text (on p. 108) says Audubon called it the Bird of Washington and that it was painted in New Orleans in early 1822. The text agrees with you in saying Audubon described 23 new species and 12 subspecies, but it also says that some of the other birds that he thought to be new species were, in several instances, known species in immature or unusual plumages. The author of the text that accompanies the plate (Carole Anne Slatkin) states "Audubon believed that the eagle he documented was related to the Bald Eagle . . . and evidently considered it a powerful icon, a symbol appropriate to the Father of his [Audubon's] adopted country. Ever the zealous entrepreneur and showman, Audubon may also have seen a fine opportunity for good personal public relations in such a gesture."
The people who prepared the exhibition note that bald eagles do not gain their mature white head and tail plumage until they are four or five, and, in short, the curators consider the bird to be an immature bald eagle.
Excellent channel, content.
Thunderbirds.we need a video on thunderbirds.
Just when I thought I knew about every North American cryptologistical species. Could it be something he made up like map makers make up towns or dictionary makers make up words just so they can catch peoples who infringe their copyrights?
The story I love is Amerigo Vespucci's name becoming attached to the New World. He was a map[ maker, always wrote his name large, and I can guess people would say "Hand me Amerigo's map," then just "The Amerigo map" and finally "America".
I once saw an Audubon Elephant Portfolio in one of the two Great Museums in SF. The De Young Museum, or the Legion of Honor. It was a huge publication, measuring 39 by 26 inches
I love this guy
another great vid...thx history guy, you rock!
Ya know, a couple of years ago I saw an enormous light brown eagle standing in a field about 15 yards from the road, looking intently, with that attitude that eagles have, at the broad open slope running down to the bottomland by the West River on Maryland's western shore. It was much larger than the bald eagles we usually see in these parts. Whatever it's species, ( I assumed it was a golden eagle ) I was glad I was in my truck, and not afoot.
This is a beautiful story! I hope that it's true!
Been to the Audubon museum a few times.
.... and we're glad you didn't "leave that part out" lol
Great series,would you do more natural history,maybe how parks were created to protect species from over hunting/poaching,and how American people were against this,and how they came to support these natural treasures
I feel the 'Washington's Eagle' is an extinct (or near extinct) bird rather than mistaken identity, I wonder if connected in some way to or the basis of the thunderbird legend?
I'm pretty sure they've nailed down the Thunderbird stories from the tribes in the SW region of the US, as matching an extinct species of super-large condor, skeletons of which are still being found in the Andes.
@@boatrat it isnt a condor and isnt extinct they have videos of him on UA-cam
Guys this bird isn’t dead it mostly Dwells in the Great Lakes and in Canada. Yes it is the truth behind the thunder bird. They have up to three young at a time and has a wing span of 10ft to 18ft. This is highly classified fuck it. When you see this bill suck a fat one🖕🏽
@@boatrat Teratorns
i have a copy (reproduction) of one of his books. it has always fascinated me
Wow another winner THG!
Hi,
I enjoyed this “5 minutes” as I do all your snippets of history.
Australia, where I reside, has its own John Audubon, viz., John Gould, an English ornithologist of the nineteenth century. As with Audubon, his work is also cited in Charles Darwin’s “On the origin of species”.
Perhaps Gould might warrant a “snippet” if it’s not going over too much of the same ground.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gould
Just a thought. :-)
Cheers, Alex Smith.
Keep up the good work!
Great
I think the story of Ernie Pyle would be a good subject Thank You
He painted it, so it was there. The end.
Maybe a plagerism trap? Like paper towns on maps.
mikemorr100 Hmm, that’s a really interesting theory actually
That was my first thought too. Like how Thomas Guide maps would always slip in one tiny street or cul-de-sac that wasn't really there -- just to trip the copycats up . . .
After doing some research, I believe the eagle to be a white-tailed sea eagle, which doesn't always have an obviously white tail, especially if not in flight. Sometimes white tails are difficult for me to see on bald eagles, due to the sun's brightness against the white plumage. I only see the dark parts of the bird as it flies. The white-tailed sea eagle has also been seen in North America before at various places and verified multiple times. It also has one of the longest wing spans of any eagle and is a rival for the longest wingspan, if you compare the different ranking lists out there for longest wingspan. Everything else about it, matches the description. It is entirely possible that the eagles may have found a home in North America during a span of milder winters, where Canadian lakes and rivers particularly, weren't freezing over. Otherwise, it would struggle to survive on a diet of fish in North America, in the winter, unless it stuck to coastal areas.
John J. Audubon is an interesting subject and you did a good job in your report. But, when I was a child, I remember hearing (and seeing) the story of John J. Studebaker, I believe from Ohio. He went west because he heard of the supposed "gold in them thar hills." He found no gold, so, made wheel barrows and wagons for his fellow miners who were more successful than he. He moved back to his home state and built wagons for sale. Later, after the gasoline combustion engine came into use, he built cars. I wounder if you have done any research on him or plan to, because, he would fit your type of presentations on you tube, which I thoroughly enjoy, by the way. I have learned a few things from you.
Always enjoyable
This makes me think of Lewis and Clark reporting that a flock of flying squirrels flew overhead and made the sky darken like and eclipse. Haven't seen many flying squirrels lately. We need the time machine to check it all out.
Bob Nicholas hmm bats maybe?
@@TheCsel it was in their journal..It was stated as flying squirrels..don't make me read it again pls.