While John James Audubon was off and away in such faraway places as the St. Johns River, the Florida Keys, the Gulf of Mexico, and Canada, his close friend and collaborator, John Bachman, had to remain behind in Charleston, South Carolina, to conduct his ministry at St. John’s Lutheran. Bachman made the most of his limited range and mobility by exploring such areas as the Edisto River and discovering for science Bachman’s sparrow.
Bachman considered Bachman’s sparrow “the finest songster of the Sparrow family.” Yet for Birds of America, Audubon decided the bird needed to be a pinewood finch. “In honouring so humble an object as this Finch with the name of BACHMAN, my aim is to testify the high regard in which I hold that learned and most estimable individual, to whose friendship I owe more than I can express on this occasion.” Bachman’s Pinewood Finch has since been changed back to a sparrow. The bird is no less difficult to find today than it was when John Bachman discovered the bird for science. The most Bachman sparrows that have been counted in North America is 68 (see eBird Checklist S253859464).
Audubon placed Bachman’s sparrow in the branch of the Fevertree (Pinckneya pubescens) as drawn by Maria Bachman. The tree was growing “in the beautiful botanic garden of M. [Philippe] NOISETTE, a few miles from Charleston, in South Carolina.” The tree is unique to the southeastern United States and requires wet ground or at least ground that is under water for part of the year. The Fevertree is much less common than it once was since agricultural operations and real estate developers work tirelessly to keep ground from staying wet. In addition to the Fevertree, Philippe Noisette cultivated many other plants in his botanic garden near Charleston, most notably the widely popular Blush Noisette.