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- LeConte’s Thrasher
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- LeConte’s Sparrow by Richard A. Parks
LeConte Birds
The LeConte’s Thrasher is named after American entomologist, John Lawrence
LeConte. It is found in sandy desert areas of the Southwestern United States
and northwestern Mexico. Thrashers are related to mockingbirds and catbirds.
They are called thrashers because of the way they “thrash” through dirt on
the ground searching for their favorite foods which include insects and
berries.
The LeConte’s Sparrow, or Ammospiza Leconteii, played a significant role
in the history of LeConte-Woodmanston. The bird was named by John James
Audubon for John Lawrence LeConte. John and his cousin, Joseph LeConte,
were outstanding ornithologists of the mid-nineteenth century and
collaborated in their bird study field trips. In the summer of 1844 the
cousins visited a region of the Great Lakes. There they saw and
described the sparrow that was given their family name. The LeConte’s
Sparrow spends summers and nests in a region of the Great Lakes and
winters in Southeastern Georgia.
During the years 1845-1850, Joseph LeConte, born and raised at
LeConte-Woodmanston made intensive observation and study of the bird
life of Low Country, Georgia. In 1850, Joseph and his brother, John
LeConte, published what was probably the first list of all bird species
in the state of Georgia. Their catalog included 273 species.
In 1975 Thomas F. Collum, an Atlanta architect and amateur naturalist,
commissioned the artist, Richard A. Parks, to make a
watercolor painting of the LeConte’s Sparrow.
The painting depicts a pair of LeConte’s sparrows perched in the seed
stalks of the indigenous flower, Evening Primrose. In his rendering Mr.
Parks also depicts, growing from the base of the Evening Primrose, a specimen
of Coastal Broomsedge. A limited edition of color prints of Park’s LeConte’s
Sparrow was crafted by Mr. Carl S. Buck. Each copy is inspected and
autographed by Mr. Parks. To see the print go to our “Home Page”.
Mr. Richard A. Parks was born in Atlanta. He has illustrated a number of
books and is best known, in his home state of Georgia, for his painting of
the Brown Thrasher which hangs in the governor’s mansion in Atlanta.