Photo and Commentary (c)2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
What’s not to like? A beautifully colored bird with a long, graceful tail that accounts for nearly half its length, accompanied by a jaunty crest that seemingly hints at its outgoing personality. The White-throated Magpie-Jay is found on the Pacific-slope of Mexico, southward to Costa Rica. A closely related jay, the Black-throated Magpie-Jay, has a more limited range in Mexico. Some consider these two to be a single species as hybrids between the two species do occur which result in intermediate plumages. It’s likely that it’s the Black-throated variety that Audubon painted, as his illustration has much more black on the face, but there are other possibilities.
John James Audubon was a master at using mixed media in the creation of his paintings. He would frequently sketch the outline of the bird he was painting using charcoal, and then apply various types of paint to create the final image he desired. This is apparent in his painting of the Magpie-Jay where he applied thick layers of white to cover his mistakes around the head of the bird. While he employed several methods to obtain whites, in this case he apparently employed the use of lead white or a mixture of lead with other whites. When employed as a watercolor, lead white has a tendency to turn dark with age and appear dark gray or even black. Such is the case in the painting of the Magpie-Jay and conservation efforts to return it to the original color have been unsuccessful.
The good news is that such is not the case of the forgiveness offered by God. Psalm 85:2 says, “You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins.” (NIV) And Romans 4:7 reinforces this same idea: “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” (NIV) We never have to worry that the sins we’ve confessed and handed over to God will one day reappear because God’s forgiveness may have grown thin and can no longer hide our offenses. That is good news, that’s grace, undeserved merit straight from the hand of the Great Artist.