 Wading birds were a particular target . Their feathers were used in women 's hats from the late 19th century until the 1920s . In 1886 , five million birds were estimated to have been killed for their feathers . They were usually shot in the spring , when their feathers were colored for mating and nesting . Aigrettes , as the plumes were called in the millinery business , sold in 1915 for $ 32 an ounce , also the price of gold . Millinery was a $ 17 @-@ million @-@ a @-@ year industry that motivated plume harvesters to lie in wait at the nests of egrets and other large birds during the nesting season , shoot the parents with small @-@ bore rifles , and leave the chicks to starve . Many hunters refused to participate after watching the gruesome results of a plume hunt . Still , plumes from Everglades wading birds could be found in Havana , New York City , London , and Paris . A dealer in New York paid at least 60 hunters to provide him with " almost anything that wore feathers , but particularly the Herons , Spoonbills , and showy birds " . Hunters could collect plumes from a hundred birds on a good day . 
