James Bond fiction or truth.  Agent 007

 By José L. Chabert Llompart

One of our missions is education.  Education is not limited to describing the natural resources the Trust manages, but also share information that in one way or another, gave form to the natural history of our country.

In this edition, I will tell briefly one of those fantastic stories that although true, are not known by many.

The story goes like this:

James Bond, the famous 007 spy agent is a fiction character created by the English author Ian Flemming.  Flemming itself was a birdwatcher born in England. When looking for a name for his spy character he thought about the American Ornithologist named James Bond, author of the field guide Birds of the West Indies, a book published in 1936.  Bond agrees to use his name.

James Bond field guide was the first comprehensive book about the birds that existed in Puerto Rico and other Caribbean Islands.  After more than seventy years, his field guide is not only a collector’s item that will shine any bookshelf, but it is still used by many ornithologists as an excellent reference guide about the birds that live in the Caribbean.

As the story goes, in the 2002 Bond film Die Another Day, the fictional Bond, played by Pierce Brosnan, can be seen examining Birds of the West Indies in an initial scene that takes place in Havana, Cuba. The author's name (James Bond) on the front cover is concealed.  In the film, when Bond first meets Jinx (Halle Berry), he introduces himself as an ornithologist.

 

Note. Ornithology is a branch of science that concerns the study of birds. From ancient Greek, Ornis (bird) and logos (explanation).

Photo. Inedited Photo of James Bond, the ornithologist, in an Expedition to Cayman Islands and the two Columbian Islands, San Andrés and Providencia. March 1948. All rights reserved.