John James Audubon's paintings exhibit a natural balance between space and form. His graceful and masterfully designed compositions are clearly the work of a great artist. Hailed in his lifetime for his artistic achievement, his status as an artist has continued to increase, and his work remains unchallenged as the superlative example of its genre.

In Edinburgh, the Scottish engraver W. H. Lizars began to produce the very first plates for Birds of America. However, after the completion of only ten plates, Lizars' colorists went on strike, and Audubon was forced to continue his pursuit of an engraver. Audubon's dream finally found fruition with Robert Havell, a renowned London engraver. The portfolio of Birds of America, comprised of 435 hand-colored engravings, took twelve years, from 1826 to 1838, to complete. Havell also retouched Lizars' original efforts, adding aquatint to the engraving, and on those ten plates the Havell name appears alongside that of the Scottish engraver's.

 Audubon sold 175 subscriptions to Birds of America, each of which commanded the princely sum of $1,000 the cost of a substantial home at the time. The edition was published on sheets measuring 26 inches by 39 inches, called double elephant by the printing trade. The resulting engravings, depicting each subject in its actual size, are among the largest ever made.