Egret Feather

I found this feather the other day, under one of the Great Egret trees in Santa Rosa. A beautiful gift from the birds.

 

Please forgive me if some of my information does not stand up to close scrutiny! I tried to get it right!

 

This feather is called a plume. And it was the beautiful bird's plumage that made it far too popular in 19th-century North America, resulting in the egrets being decimated by plume hunters who supplied purveyors of the latest ladies' fashions. Today the great egret is the symbol of the National Audubon Society and represents a conservation success story.

 

The name Egret stems from the French word Aigrette which means plume.

 

You may now admire the picture!