The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1940-08-22
Herons Increase
In Floridc Refugees

The great white heron, mai
este Florida bird that was al
most wiped out in the 1905 by
hunters who sold its plumes to
milliners, is well on its way to
successful recovery, officials of
the Fish and Wildlife service
reported recently to Secretary
of the Interior Harold L. Ickes.
According to q recent estimate
there SIRE about 1000 of these
Great White Heron and Key
West National Wildlife refugees
on the Florida Keys. Others may
be found on other keys in the
Gulf of Mexico.
Established in 1888 as a san
ctuary for these comparatively
rare birds, the Great White
Heron refuge consists of a num-
Der of keys and islands lying
along the Gulf of Mexico side
OF the main Florida Keys. The
2~,OOO-acre refuge was estab-
llshed primarily to preserve the
great white heron but, with its
adjacent sister sanctuary. the
Key West National Wildlife ref
uge, it also protects other forms
OF Wildlife, including many spe-
cies of herons, the man-o'-war-
bird, eastern brown pelican,
snowy egret, white-crowned pig
con, turkey vulture, southern
: paid eagle, laughing gull, and
terms.
The original decrease in the
great white heron population is
attributed not only to market
hunters but to commercial fish
ermen who in the early 190O's
gathered the young for food.
1t IS said that at one time the
species was reduced to an esti-
mated 100 pairs. The species al
most became extinct again in
1885 when a hurricane reduced
the population to less than $50.
When it became apparent a
few wears ago that the great
white heron was rapidly ap-
preaching extinction, officials
of the Fish and Wildlife service
selected the keys and islands of
the present refuge as a sane
tuary for these birds because it
was on these mangrove-studded
islands that the herons nested.
Most of the keys are low-ly-
ing and their bases are covered
with water at high tide, while a
few are higher and dryer and
have coarse sandy beaches. Ex-
actly how many islands are
within the refuge boundary is
not known. Many of the keys
have not been surveyed and
some are not even shown on
maps. The refuge manager,
however, estimates that there
are some 1000 keys in the area.
The great white heron is an
unusual bird in the United
States. The largest of the Am
erican herons. it occupies the
most restricted range of any OF
its tribe and one of the most
restricted bird ranges in the
United States. Its recent range
in the United States is said tc
be from extreme southern Flor
ida, near Cae Romano, south tt
the Keys and west to the Mar,
quesas group and east to care
sound. The entire normal range
lies within one county, Monroe
and is some 100 miles long anc
10 to 80 miles wide. The biro
is also found in Cuba, Jamaica
and Yucatan.
Discovered by the Naturalist
artist Audubon in 1885, the
great white heron has since
been locally named the great
white crane and the white
crane. Its scientific name, Ardea
occldentaliS, means a heron of
the west.
The great white heron is a
consricuous bird in its native
haunts, its huge white body
stands out against the green
background of the mangroves
in which it lives. Wading in a
shallow bay, as it does in search
of food, the bird is visible for
long distances.
An adult is about 81 inches
long and has a wing-spread OF
83 inches. The plumage is pure
white, while its bill is yellow
except for a dab of green at the
I tin The 1epS also are Ve11OU