Bartram's Birds

Bartram's Birds. Volusia County Bartram Trail. , Bartram Noticed Migration , William Bartram was among the first naturalists to describe, name, or illustrate Florida birds, and one of the first to explain how migration works. He saw birds in Florida during the winter that he knew to disappear for those months in colder regions. Bartram notes that people of his day “imagined they went to the moon” or “retired in caves” for the winter. , Green Heron , Bartram identified it as “a little green bittern or poke, a pretty bird.” , Florida Sandhill Crane , “Behold the loud, sonorous, watchful savannah crane (grus pratensis) with musical clangor, in detached squadrons.” , Florida Scrub Jay , Bartram was perhaps the first to notice the Florida Scrub Jay "…a species of jay; they are generally of an azure blue colour, have no crest or tuft of feathers on the head, nor are they so large as the great crested blue jay of Virginia, but are equally clamorous."