Protecting the Plume Birds

Protecting the Plume Birds. . , At the end of the 1800's, Plume Hunters slaughtered hundreds of thousands of egrets and herons for the sake of fashion. In 1886, milliners were paying $32 an once - twice the price of gold at the time - for egret plumes to adorn ladies hats., The hunts took place during breeding season when the birds showy feathers were at their finest. This decimated the adult population and all but wiped out the next generation, Audubon Takes Action , In 1896, a Boston society matron heard of the birds' plight. She began a campaign to boycott feather hats and to get legislation passed to protect wading birds, This was the initial action of the fledgling Audubon Society, the first nationwide, grass-roots conservation organization in the country. The Society's effort to save the plume birds launched many further actions that helped preserve Corkscrew swamp, one of the few remaining functional parts of the greater South Florida Ecosystem., Hunted to almost extinction for their feathers, The trend continues The Audubon Society is still fighting to save Corkscrew Swamp and greater Everglades Ecosystem by speaking out in boardrooms and legislatures, and educating visitors about native ecosystems. Here at Corkscrew we work to restore and protect the water flows that are vital to the swamp's survival., (captions) , Dressed to Impress Plumed hats such as this one by vaudeville actress Lillian Russell were the heights of fashion in the late 19th century, Milliners so regularly used egret feathers that any spray of bird plumage featured on a hat was called an aigrette, French for "egret" , A day's work A plume hunter encampment, c 1890. During breeding season, hunters spent weeks in the swamp, slaughtering the adult birds., Alone on guard An Audubon warden watches over a wading bird nesting colony in 1910, The Prize The adult Snowy Egret, one of several species hunted for their plumage