Wading Birds Diorama
Part of Hall of North American Birds.
Part of Hall of North American Birds.
Museum ornithologist Frank Chapman used habitat dioramas to call attention to the plight of endangered birds. In 1903, he persuaded President Theodore Roosevelt to establish the first Federal Bird Reserve, on Florida’s Pelican Island.
Florida’s Cuthbert Rookery, depicted here, was the scene of the 1905 murder of a game warden by commercial plume hunters. In response, President Roosevelt appointed more wardens in Florida and assured the Audubon Society that he was committed to ending the sale of endangered bird feathers for fashion.