FLORIDA KEYS BEST

A Guide to John Audubon's visit to the Florida Keys

CLICK image Above for LODGING Hotels and motels Florida Keys and Key West       AUDUBON IN THE FLORIDA KEYS     INDEX    AUDUBON INDIAN KEY 1832 CORMORANT ROSEATE TERN GRAY KINGBIRD REDDISH EGRET LOUISIANA HERON SANDY KEY WHITE IBIS WILLET   ZENAIDA DOVE WHITE CROWNED PIGEON THE AUDUBON HOUSE IN KEY WEST AUDUBON'S KEY WEST KEY WEST AFTER AUDUBON ROSEATE SPOONBILL GREAT WHITE HERON GREAT BLUE HERON KEY WEST DOVE FLAMINGOS BLUE- HEADED QUAIL DOVE FRIGATE BIRD BROWN PELICAN MANGROVE CUCKOO TORTUGAS SOOTY TERN BLACK HEADED GULL BROWN NODDY CAYENNE TERN BROWN BOOBY SANDWICH TERN NIGHT HERON GREENSHANK GREAT MARBLED GODWIT MANGO HUMMING- BIRD TROPIC BIRD BIRDING LODGING ONLINE STORE   BOOK ORDERS AUDUBON PRINTS NATURALIST PHOTOS     FLORIDA KEYS BEST INDEX KIDS IN THE KEYS LINKS FAMILIES IN THE FLORIDA KEYS COMPANION SITE - DUCK KEY ONLINE     BIRD LINKS

John Audubon paints the Great White Heron near Key West Great White Heron Observed at Indian Key on April 24 and later during trip to Key West. Sometime after May 4 Audubon painted the Great White Heron near the city of Key West, after a hunting excursion with James Egan. The background of the picture shows Key West. " . . . we found the bird at which I had shot lying with extended wings in the agonies of death. It was from this specimen that the drawing was made." 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. http://www.historical-museum.org/collect/audubon/audubon.htm) See Audubon House     Portions of what Audubon writes in his Ornithological Biography, Volume. III, pages 542 to 550 appears below:   "On the 24th of April 1832, I landed on Indian Key in Florida, and immediately after I formed an acquaintance with M. Egan, of whom I had already several times spoken. He was the first to give me notice of the species which forms the subject of this article, and which I cannot find any description. The next day after that arrival, when I was prevented from accompanying him by my anxiety to finish a drawing, he came with two birds alive, . . . These birds were left under the charge of Mr. Egan, until I returned from my various excursions to the different islands along the coast. " "On the 26th of the same month, Mr. Thurston took me and my companions in his beautiful barge to some keys on which the Florida cormorants were breeding in great numbers. . . . we observed a young Heron of the species stalking among the mangroves that bordered the key on which we were, and immediately pursued it. . . . At length, however we caught it . . . and the poor thing was conveyed to Indian Key, and placed along with its kinfolk. . . . "While sailing along the numerous islands that occur between Indian Key and Key West, I saw many birds of this species, some in pairs, some single and some in flocks; but on no occasion did I succeed in getting within shot of one. " Upon arrival in Key West, Dr. Strobel give Audubon assurances that he would obtain the specimens he needed to make he sketches. Audubon writes that he does indeed during that week procure more than a dozen birds of different ages. On one of these quests he writes after getting up at "eight bells" and rowing and dragging their boats over several miles of soapy shallows , " . .. but at last we found ourselves in a deep channel beneath the hanging mangroves of a large key, where we had observed the Herons returning to roost the previous evening. There we lay quietly until daybreak. But the mosquitoes and sandflies ! reader, if you have not been in such a place, you cannot easily conceive the torments we endured for a whole hour, when it was absolutely necessary for us to remain perfectly motionless. " . . . I soon had the pleasure of observing all the herons take to wing. . . . Obtaining a good chance as I thought, I fired at a remarkably large bird, and distinctively heard the shot strike it. The heron merely croaked and pursued its course. . . . we now started for the next key, where we expected to see more. When we had advanced several hundred yards along a low bank, we found the bird at which I had shot lying with extended wings in the agonies of death. It was from this specimen that the drawing was made. I was satisfied with the fruits of this day's excursion. On other occasions I procured fifteen more birds,and judging that a sufficient number, I left the Herons to their occupations."  " Mr. Egan kept for about a year one of these birds, which ... was allowed to ramble along the shores of Indian Key in quest of food. . . . The bird was known to all the resident inhabitants, but was at last shot by some Indian hunter, who had gone there to dispose of a collection of sea shells." Among the varied and contradictory descriptions of herons . . . that herons are always thin, and unfit for food. this however, is by no means generally the case in America, and I thought these birds very good eating when not too old."   Audubon is credited with being the first to identify the Great White Heron as a separate species and gave it the name, "Ardea occidentilis". The Great White Heron has recently been designated a morph or color form of the Great Blue Heron.      Additional information about the great white heron 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.   http://wildflorida.org/bba/GWHE.htm          THIS PAGE CREATED BY FLORIDA KEYS BEST COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL http://www.floridakeysbest.com site map email@floridakeysbest.com Florida Keys Best 386 East Seaview Drive Marathon, Florida 33050 305-289-1872