John James Audubon (1785-1851)
Plate XXVI Carolina Parrot
from Birds of America
Engraved by Robert Havell (1793-1878)
Published: London, 1827-1838
Aquatint engraving with original hand coloring
Paper size: 38 x 24 7/8 in.
Frame size: 49 1/2 x 37 in.

In his Ornithological Biography, Audubon states, "Our Parakeets are very rapidly diminishing in number; and in some districts, where twenty-five years ago they were plentiful, scarcely any are now to be seen.... ." Unfortunately, the vibrant birds were considered a pest by farmers and were killed in large numbers to prevent them from ruining crops. This slaughter, combined with deforestation throughout their range and the popularity of their feathers in the millinery trade, led to the decline of the Parrot. The species was rarely seen outside of Florida after 1860, and by the 1920s it was considered extinct. (Cornell Lab of Ornithology).