A great egret standing in shallow water is one of the most familiar sights in South Florida’s wetlands. A little over a century ago, that bird’s feathers were a valuable commodity. The story of how people fought to protect Florida’s wading birds, and what one early warden paid for that fight, adds another layer to the region’s history, including the landscape of the Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area.

Feathers Worth More Than Gold

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the feathers of herons and egrets decorated fashionable women’s hats. The National Park Service’s Flamingo exhibit says the plume industry brought a boom to Flamingo, a small settlement on Florida Bay, and that “by 1903, egret plumes were twice as valuable as gold.” Hunters in the Flamingo area mainly targeted rookeries of herons, great egrets and snowy egrets.

Plume hunting struck birds where they gathered to nest. According to Audubon Florida’s history, Florida had become the primary hunting ground for plume hunters, and birdlife that had been abundant was becoming scarce, and in some places disappearing, with incredible speed.

A Movement Takes Shape

Opposition grew in several places at once. The National Audubon Society traces its roots to 1896, when Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall organized afternoon teas in Boston to persuade society women to give up feathered hats. Those meetings led to the Massachusetts Audubon Society. In Florida, the Florida Audubon Society held its first meeting in Maitland on March 2, 1900.

New laws followed:

• 1900: The federal Lacey Act prohibited interstate trade in wildlife killed in violation of state laws, according to Audubon Florida.
• 1901: Florida passed the Audubon Model Law, outlawing plume hunting in the state. William Dutcher of the American Ornithologists’ Union helped Florida Audubon persuade the legislature.

A law on paper still had to be enforced across remote rookeries and waterways. Audubon Florida says Dutcher administered the American Ornithologists’ Union’s Thayer Fund to hire wardens to protect birds, and that he hired lighthouse keepers in Key West and the Dry Tortugas.

From Plume Hunter to Game Warden

Guy M. Bradley was part of that enforcement effort. The State Archives of Florida says he was born in Chicago in 1870 and moved to Florida as an infant. The National Park Service describes him as a Flamingo resident and a former plume hunter who became a game warden in South Florida.

According to Audubon Florida, Dutcher hired Bradley in 1902 as a warden in South Florida on the recommendation of Florida Audubon Society members Kirk Munroe and Mrs. Kingsmill Marrs. The National Audubon Society calls him its “first hired Audubon game warden.” The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission notes that he was hired by the Audubon Society and deputized by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. In 1905, the newly incorporated National Association of Audubon Societies took over the warden program, and Audubon Florida says its leaders worked to keep the Florida wardens, including Bradley, on the job.

On July 8, 1905, Bradley was killed by poachers while investigating gunshots near his home in Flamingo, according to the National Park Service. The FWC records that he was 35, that he was trying to arrest people suspected of poaching egrets, and that his killer was not convicted. He had served for three years.

What Came After

Bradley’s death did not end the violence. Audubon Florida reports that another Audubon warden, Columbus G. MacLeod, was killed in the line of duty at Charlotte Harbor in 1908. It says that killing stirred the nation’s conscience and that Audubon intensified its nationwide campaign against wearing feathers.

Protection gradually widened. The National Audubon Society notes that New York’s Audubon Plumage Law of 1910 prohibited the sale or possession of feathers from protected species, and that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 made it illegal to kill any non-game bird in the United States. The National Park Service’s Flamingo exhibit says plume hunting was eventually banned.

Bradley is still remembered. The National Park Service named its renovated visitor center at Flamingo, inside Everglades National Park, in his honor. The FWC notes that the Audubon Society established the Guy Bradley Award for wildlife officers. In 1953, the National Audubon Society adopted a flying great egret as its symbol, describing it as one of the chief victims of turn-of-the-century plume hunters.

That history can change how you look at a wading bird in the marsh. Wildlife sightings are never guaranteed, but if you’d like to spend time in South Florida’s wetlands, you can explore Miami Airboat’s tour options within the Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area.

Sources

• National Park Service, Natural & Cultural Collections of South Florida, Making a Living (Flamingo Exhibit)
• Audubon Florida, History of Audubon in Florida
• National Audubon Society, The History of Audubon and Bird Conservation
• Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Honoring Our Fallen Officers
• State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, Portrait of Monroe County Game Warden Guy M. Bradley