John
Audubon visits several small Keys near Indian Key
and observes the Florida Cormorant
April 26
- 29, 1832 - Audubon visits mangrove islands, Sandy Key,
and Cape Sable.
In
Audabon's Ornithological biography he write about several
types of Cormorant : among them the Florida Cormorant
(Double Crested Cormorant) which nestles on trees and the
double crested cormorant which resides on the upper
shelves of rugged and elevated rocks. He believes the
Florida Cormorant to be a species in its own right, but
this will be corrected by later day experts. He has to
collect many specimens both male and female and of all
ages to be accurate in his observations. He also collects
eggs and the nest of each bird variety. He has no
refrigeration to preserve the birds. Some varieties of
birds and eggs his group eats for food during their
explorations.
Cormorant
"On
the 26th of April 1832, I and my party visited several
small Keys, not many miles distant from the harbour in
which our vessel lay [Indian Key]. Mr.
Thruston had given us his beautiful barge, and
accompanied us with his famous pilot, fisherman and
hunter, Mr. Egan. The Keys were separated by narrow
and tortuous channels, from the surface of the clear
waters of which were reflected the dark mangroves, on
the branches of which whole colonies of Cormorants had
already built their nests, and were sitting on their
eggs. There were many thousands of these birds, and
every tree bore a greater or less number of their
nests, some five or six, others as many as ten. The
leaves, branches, and stems of the trees, were in a
manner whitewashed with their dung . "
Above image
from Historical Museum of Southern
Florida
- Audubon images at the
Historical
Museum website were
produced from prints of an original Elephant Folio
belonging to the museum. collection.
http://www.historical-museum.org/collect/audubon/audubon.htm)
See Audubon
House
Audubon
painted the cormorant on Indian Key on April 26, 1832.
which is reported to be his 47th birthday by some
researchers. Other resources give his age on this date as
52.
Audubon
believes the Florida Cormorant
". .
. to be different from any hitherto described , and
I have taken the liberty of giving it a name, while
the figure and description will enable the scientific
to form a distinct idea of it, and thus to confirm the
species, or restore to it its previous appellation,
should it have received one." . . .
He
comments in the biography while at his writing desk in
Scotland,
" .
. . You must try to excuse these murders, which in
truth might not have been nearly so numerous, had I
have not thought of you quite as often while on the
Florida Keys, with the burning sun over my head, and
my body oozing at every pore, as I do know peaceably
scatching my paper with an iron-pen, in one of the
comfortable and quire cool houses of the most
beautiful of all cities of old
Scotland."
. . .
"
Their flesh is dark, generally tough, and has a rank
fishy taste, which can suit the palate only of refined
epicures, some of whom I have heard pronounce it
excellent. The Indians and the Negroes of the Floridas
kill the young when nearly able to fly, and after
skinning them, salt them for food. I have seen them
offered for sale in the New Orleans markets, the
poorer people there making gumbo soup of
them."
Additional
information about the cormorant may be found by following
the link below to the Florida Breeding Bird Atlas. The
Atlas, a collaborative effort of Audubon of Florida, the
Florida Ornithological Society, and the Florida Fish
& Wildlife Conservation Commission provides
information of general status, habitat, and status
of breeding species in Florida.
