Wading Bird Rookery

The Cuthbert Rookery is in extreme southern Florida and is now a part of Everglades National Park. These great marshes and swamps are the home of thousands of wading birds. Some of these, such as the lovely egrets and spoonbills, were once shot for their plumes and their young are still sometimes captured as food. With protection most of them have increased.

Species represented include:

Little Blue Heron (Florida caerulea)    Listen to the call

Louisiana Heron (Hydranassa tricolor)    Listen to the call

White Ibis (Eudocimus albus)    Listen to a White Ibis

Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)    Listen to the call

Roseate Spoonbill (Ajaia ajaja)    Listen to the call

Great Egret (Casmerodius albus)    Listen to the call

Conservation Story of the Cuthbert Rookery

The Cuthbert Rookery is a remarkable example of birdlife found in the Florida Everglades. More fascinating perhaps, than the snowy egret, or aptly named roseate spoonbill, is the story that the diorama commemorates. At the turn of the Twentieth Century, birds were being hunted by the hundreds so that their feathers could be used in women's fashion. Frank M. Chapman, Assistant Curator of Ornithology at the American Museum of Natural History and an early member of the Audubon Society, was intimately concerned with not only the protection of these endangered birds, but also with finding a medium to share them with the world beyond just the use of their plumage.

Thus the idea behind habitat groups was formed. The communication between Chapman and William Dutcher, one of the leaders of the Audubon movement, in the protection and preservation of birds and their habitats, bred the idea for the need for wardens to work actively to protect rookeries in Florida. While there were some laws in place to protect birds, they were few and seldom obeyed.

The man chosen was Florida native and an ex-plume hunter. He was well acquainted with not only the geography of southern Florida, but the socio- political climate as well. His name was Guy Bradley, and the story of his devotion and subsequent murder played a vital role in elevating awareness of the Audubon movement to a national level.

Cuthbert Lake, the inspiration for the scene in the Cuthbert Rookery, is a fairly isolated part of Florida deep within the Everglades. For this reason, it was an ideal place for birds to nest safely. While Bradley checked on this area often, hunters kept up on his activities as well, visiting Cuthbert Lake after he had left. In 1904, Frank Chapman was scheduled to visit the lake with Bradley and was met with the news that it had in fact recently been "shot out." Bradley remarked, "You could've walked right around the Rookery on those bird's bodies—between four and five hundred of them."

Guy Bradley was aware that he was making enemies, and told Chapman he expected that someone would try to kill him. A Civil War veteran named Walter Smith had remarked that if Bradley hassled anyone in his family again that he would kill him (Bradley had arrested Smith's son twice for hunting birds). Soon after, Bradley saw a sailboat going to Oyster Key and decided to investigate. Accounts differ on what happened on July 8, 1905. Smith's testimony claims that Bradley shot at him and missed, despite Bradley's reputation as a good shot, and that he, defending himself, shot back. Smith was not convicted, despite convincing evidence that Bradley's gun had not been fired. This event brought the goals of the Audubon society onto a national stage, where public consciousness was heightened, and they began to get the kind of support they needed to truly protect places like Cuthbert Lake. William Dutcher honored Guy Bradley in Frank Chapman's journal Bird Lore by saying: "Every great movement must have its martyrs, and Guy M. Bradley is the first martyr in the cause of bird protection."

Story by Dan Felder

Sources:
Graham, Frank, Jr. Audubon Ark. National Audubon Society: Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1990.
Chapman, Frank M. Bird Lore. Macmillan Company, New York, 1905.
Preston, Douglas J. Dinosaurs in the Attic. St. Martins Press, New York, 1986.