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 observes the Sandwich Tern   May 26, 1832 - Sandwich Tern     Sandwich Tern   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     Audubon painted the Sandwich Tern in the Keys on May 26, 1832. Portions of what Audubon wrote in his Ornithological Biography, Volume III, page 531 to 553 are provided below:   "On the 26th of May 1832, while sailing along the Florida Keys in Mr. Thurston's barge, accompanied by his worthy pilot and my assistant, I observed a flock of terns, which from their size and other circumstances, I would have pronounced to be marsh terns, had not the difference in their manner of flight convinced me that they were of a species hitherto unknown to me. The pleasure which one feels on such an occasion cannot easily be described, and . . . I begged to be rowed to them as quickly as possible. . . . On examining the first individual picked up from the water, I perceived from the yellow point of its bill that it was different from any that I had previously seen, and accordingly shouted "A prize ! a prize ! a new bird to the American fauna. And so it was, good reader, for no person before had found the Sandwich tern on any part of our coast. . . ."   ". . . On asking the Wreckers if they had been in the habit of seeing these birds, they answered in the affirmative, and added that they paid them pretty frequent visits during the breeding season, on account of their eggs as well as of the young, which, when nearly able to fly, they said were also good eating. According to their account, this species spends the whole winter near and upon the keys, and the young keep separate from the old birds."      Additional information about the sandwich tern 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/SATE.htm    Additional information about the sandwich tern may be found by following this link to eNature.com          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