Formerly Known As the Louisiana Heron

I have a book called “American Wildlife Illustrated” from 1940 that sits on my book shelf with all of my other aging natural history references. Some of the books are as new as 2010 but for every day that goes by there is a fact, a theory or a matter of taxonomic nomenclature that becomes wrong, disproved or obsolete. Printed material is old school. Your digital Audubon Guides can be updated when needed.

When I started guiding in the Everglades in the 90’s there was a bird that everyone in the swamps called the Louisiana Heron. I was told it was also called a Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor), but people can be stubborn and despite the bird carrying a name of another state, the locals were content to keep the traditional name. I took a few years off from guiding and returned again in 2007. When I pointed to a heron and called it a Louisiana Heron you would have thought I called a Badger a Buffalo. “It’s a Tricolored Heron. Ain’t no one calls it Louisiana Heron no more.” Ok then. Tricolored it is.

To be fair the name change had been approved by the American Ornithologist’s Union in 1983 so everyone had ample time to acclimate to the new colorful name. Why the change? Eliminating local geographic names was deemed more appropriate. After all, the “Louisiana Heron” is found from the eastern seaboard of the United States, south through Texas and in a few spots in Central and South America. The three colors of the Tricolored Heron include a white belly, a powdery blue body and a reddish patch on the back.    

They are occasionally confused with the much larger Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) and the similarly sized Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea). What always stands out to me is the white crest of feathers that the Tricolored adults develop during the breeding season. It pops out a bit in the back and looks like a mullet hairstyle.

There are still some old school birders who prefer “Louisiana Heron” but Tricolored Heron is certainly the norm. What you won’t see or hear anywhere  is someone petitioning for a name change to “Mullet Crested Heron”. 

Wading Into Controversy - The Great White Heron

It would be easy for the casual observer to dismiss a tall white wading bird in Florida as a Great Egret (Ardea alba-top photo). The long, black-legged wader has a slim frame, thin beak and is found in a variety of shallow wetlands around the state. But in the fringes of southern Florida, every all-white wading bird requires a second look. It might be a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodia-bottom left).

I took a walk in the 10,000 Islands National Wildlife Refuge recently. Located just east of Naples and north of the Florida Keys, the refuge is part of the second largest mangrove forest in the world. On this sweltering March morning, a volunteer welcomes me and suggests I may not see much on the boardwalk since most of the water has dried up. I step on the path, round the corner and standing before me is a Great White Heron (bottom right), a rare color morph of the Great Blue Heron. This all white heron is larger than the Great Egret, has a heavier bill and sports light colored or yellowish legs.

The Great White Heron population is estimated to be around one thousand and most of them live on and around the Florida Keys and mangrove islands. The debate that I will not settle for you has been their taxonomic classification. For years they were considered a distinct species (Ardea occidentalis), geographically isolated from the Great Blue Herons of the mainland. They have also been considered a subspecies with the ability to interbreed with Great Blue Herons but do not do so naturally due to geography. Or do they?

Great White Herons do migrate up to the southern peninsula of Florida but mainland Great Blue Herons rarely migrate down to the keys. The Great Blue Herons and Great White Herons that live in the keys are larger than their relatives to the north. When they do form mating pairs it is often with a color morph similar to their own.

The Great White Heron probably does not merit species status. It could very well deserve a subspecies distinction. I’ll leave that to the taxonomists, but it certainly warrants a second look.

Bird Massacre - A Few Bad Men

(WARNING - gruesome photo below) - During the late 19th Century and early 20th century plumage hunters infamously pillaged the bird rookeries of south Florida - killing hundreds of thousands of birds for their breeding plumage and leaving eggs unincubated and hatchlings to starve or die of exposure. The feathers were used mainly for women's hats - a trendy fashion of the time that drove the price of an ounce of feathers above that of gold. That was over a century ago and the bird populations of many bird species have not recovered.

Yesterday the State of Florida announced it would not pursue charges against three naval officers and 4 other accomplices for killing 21 birds on a nature preserve in Goodland, Florida in the Everglades.

The massacre occurred on February 17th of 2009. Fish and Wildlife officers heard gunshots and watched birds drop out of the sky. Two hours later four people walked from the rookery and three others left in a boat that was loaded with guns and ammunition.

The protected birds included 11 White Ibis, 2 Blue Herons, a Tri-colored Heron and a Snowy Egret. Also pictured but not protected is the Double-crested Cormorant.

Charges were not pursued because:

A) witnesses did not actually see anyone pull the trigger.

B) No prints were found on the weapons. The guns were presumably wiped clean of fingerprints.

C) The confession could not be used in court because the arresting officer had yet to read the person their rights

D) All four "corners" of the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve must be posted with No Trespassing signs and fenced. (See map below)

February 18th article in the Naples News

May 6th article

This would not stand if it were people and I won't pretend to understand the complications of the law. There is still a federal investigation into the matter and the naval officers are suspended from active duty but it disgusts me anyway