Protecting the Waterfowl

From Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges Complex:

Did you know? Two of the Florida Keys NWR's (Great White Heron and Key West) were established to protect colonial waterbirds from senseless slaughter. Birds like egrets, herons and spoonbills were slaughtered for their feathers around the turn of the century (the other century-late 1800's). Women were wearing feathers in hats, and even entire dead birds on their heads. This actually is what initiated the first environmental and ethical hunting laws in the U.S. and, in 1903, led President Theodore Roosevelt (R) to protect brown pelicans at Pelican Island, the first National Wildlife Refuge.

Check out "A History of Conserving Colonial Waterbirds in the United States" by JAMES A. KUSHLAN (Waterbirds 35(4): 608-625, 2012) for a really in depth look at the whole story.

Photo credit: Kristie Killam/USFWS

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12-18-16