This is Bird Note. A large glistening white bird circles overhead. Its long neck is outstretched. Its wing strokes deep, slow and exaggerated.

It's a male great egret showing his courtship moves as he lands on the

rim of a large flat nest of sticks a female watches nearby awaiting the big

performance. The male arches his neck backward and points his beak skyward. He flexes up and down on long legs, silky plumes suddenly rising up in a circular array

from his back, like a veil of lace.

The plumes circle his torso and quiver with every movement.

Egrets were named for these special breeding season plumes from the French word

Egret.

It was these gossamer feathers that nearly caused the great egrets demise.

At the turn of the 20th century, egrets were hunted ruthlessly for their plumes,

which were used to decorate women's hats.

But people began to organize against the slaughter,

forming some of the country's first Audubon societies.

And in 1910, hunting egrets for their plumes was finally made illegal.

The Great Egrets image remains familiar today as the symbol of the National Audubon Society,

a potent reminder of a species saved by people organizing and speaking up for birds.

For bird note, I'm Mary McCann.

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