Perhaps the most dramatic loss of any group of animals has been to wading birds. Their numbers were estimated by eyewitness accounts to be approximately 2.5 million in the late 19th century. However, snowy egrets (Egretta thula), roseate spoonbills (Platalea ajaja), and reddish egrets (Egretta rufescens) were hunted to the brink of extinction for the colorful feathers used in women's hats. After about 1920 when the fashion passed, their numbers returned in the 1930s, but over the next 50 years actions by the C&SF further disturbed populations. When the canals were constructed, natural water flow was restricted from the mangrove forests near the coast of Florida Bay. From one wet season to the next, fish were unable to reach traditional locations to repopulate when water was withheld by the C&SF. Birds were forced to fly farther from their nests to forage for food. By the 1970s, bird numbers had decreased 90%. Many of the birds moved to smaller colonies in the WCAs to be closer to a food source, making them more difficult to count. Yet they remain significantly fewer in number than before the canals were constructed.[48][49]