Visitors to America’s Everglades in the 19th century frequently reported astonishment at the sheer numbers of wading birds they saw. JohnJames Audubon wrote, “The flocks of birds that covered the shelly beaches, and those hovering overhead, so astonished us that we could for awhile scarcely believe our eyes.” That all changed when plume hunters decimated the iconic Florida birds in the 1880’s.