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John James Audubon, the French-American naturalist and artist born on 26 April 1785, is the subject of a Google doodle John James Audubon was born on this day 226 years ago. Unlike previous Google doodles, such as the interactive submarine which celebrated the birth of Jules Verne, this time Google has kept things simple. But while the specially designed logo on the search engine’s home page boasts no moving parts or any other type of animation, its latest graphic might just go down as one of the more beautiful of recent times. The letters of the internet giant’s name are barely recognisable amid the branches and colourful plumes of the birds which adorn the logo, created in the style of the French-American painter and ornithologist’s creations. Born on April 26, 1785, John James Audubon developed a deep appreciation of nature from early childhood and moved to America from France at the age of 18 in order to avoid joining Napoleon’s army. He was to go on to make name for himself by painting birds in a signature life-like manner that was to overshadow contemporaries and predecessors. “I felt an intimacy with them … bordering on frenzy must accompany my steps through life”, recalled the painter of his relationship with his feathered subjects. His far reaching influence on ornithology and natural history extended to being quoted by Charles Darwin in ‘On the Origin of Species’ while Audubon’s field notes are regarded as having made a significant contribution to the understanding of bird anatomy and behavior. As recently as December, 2010, a copy of Audubon’s ‘Birds of America’ was sold at a Sotheby’s auction for £7,321,250, a record price for a single printed book. Google doodle Internet Search engines Google Wildlife Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk