Wading Birds

The Wading Birds are a family of birds with long legs,necks and a long bill used for stalking food in shallow water.They have graceful crests and plumes seen in breeding.In the early 20th century,they were on the verge of extinction and were being slaughtered for their plumes as they adorned women's hats.They were once so valuable,they were worth more than the value of gold.To stand up to this systematic slaughter,a group of brave game wardens dared to try to stop these hunters.The end to the slaughter played an important role in the creation of Everglades National Park

Species native to North America
Herons Egrets Storks Flamingoes Ibises,Spoonbills Rails,Coots and Gallinules
 * American Bittern
 * Yellow Bittern
 * Least Bittern
 * Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
 * Black-crowned Night-Heron
 * Green Heron
 * Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (from Mexico to northwestern Colombia)
 * Tricolored Heron
 * Little Blue Heron
 * Western Reef-Heron (from southern Europe,Africa and parts of Asia)
 * Chinese Pond-Heron (from East Asia)
 * Great Blue Heron
 * Gray Heron
 * Reddish Egret
 * Cattle Egret (from The Old World,introduced to North and South America from Africa.spread to Florida by the early 1950s.,reached California by the mid-1960s
 * Little Egret (from the Old World)
 * Snowy Egret
 * Great Egret
 * Wood Stork (Endangered,the only stork native to America)
 * American Flamingo
 * Glossy Ibis
 * White-faced Ibis
 * Scarlet Ibis (from tropical South America and the Caribbean,now local resident of southern Florida)
 * White Ibis
 * Roseate Spoonbill
 * Limpkin (placed in its own family,very strange bird)
 * Yellow Rail
 * Black Rail
 * Corn Crake (from Europe and Asia)
 * Clapper Rail
 * Virginia Rail
 * Sora
 * Spotted Rail (from the New World,also found in Australia)
 * Paint-billed Crake (from Central and South America)
 * American Coot
 * Eurasian Coot (from Europe,Asia,Australia and parts of Africa)
 * Purple Gallinule
 * Common Gallinule
 * Purple Swamphen (from Asia and Australia and the South Pacific,introduced to Florida in 1996)