John James Audubon was born Jean Rabin in April 1785 in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). John James Audubon was born on April 26, 1785, in Les Cayes in what is now Haiti. The life’s work of both a lover and observer of birds and nature. His father Jean was a French Naval captain who was also a plantation owner.His mother Jean Rabin was a domestic servant. John James Audubon is a classic biography of the great American naturalist/wildlife painter by John Burroughs. John James Audubon Biography, Life, Interesting Facts. The Audubon family was unable to sell the edition or recoup their losses. John James Audubon is well known for his artwork.However, his work became a great gift to the field of ornithology.. Childhood And Early Life. Consequently, in 1863, Lucy Audubon sold 471 of John James Audubon’s original watercolors, of which 435 were preparatory for The Birds of America, to the New-York Historical Society for $4,000. John James Audubon (April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was a self-taught American ornithologist, naturalist, hunter, and painter.He painted, cataloged, and described the birds of North America, as well as its mammals. He had a talent for drawing and an interest in birds, and he would spend the next thirty-five years traveling to the remotest regions of his new country–often alone and on foot–to render his avian subjects on paper. John James Audubon's Birds of America is a portal into the natural world.Printed between 1827 and 1838, it contains 435 life-size watercolors of North American birds (Havell edition), all reproduced from hand-engraved plates, and is considered to be the archetype of wildlife illustration. John James Audubon came to America as a dapper eighteen-year-old eager to make his fortune. Synopsis John James Audubon was born on April 26, 1785, in Les Cayes, Saint Domingue, Hispaniola (a former French colony; now Haiti). Today, this collection of Audubon’s watercolors is considered to be priceless. John James Audubon was an American ornithologist, artist and naturalist known for his studies, drawings and paintings of North American birds. About John James Audubon. James James Audubon was the greatest American naturalist/painter and one of the most important advocates of nature that the world has ever seen.