TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Amazement turned to horror over the weekend when local birders spotted a rare swan at Lake Jackson. Then they watched it die.
A Tallahassee hunter is now facing misdemeanor charges for shooting and killing a Tundra Swan, which is protected under federal and state law, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Avid birders Eliza Hawkins and Juli deGrummond were at Crowder Landing early Saturday morning.
They were watching the pair of Tundra Swans through their scopes and taking photos when a hunter on the far side of the lake started shooting.
“We heard firing, shooting,” Hawkins said. “One bird flew up and flew off. They were both screaming the whole time and the wounded, mortally wounded bird … sort of skated across the water, flapping its wings.”
Apalachee Audubon Society member Juli deGrummond teared up as she shared why the killing was so devastating.
“You know, they spend a lot of their time in Canada and Alaska, so these beautiful birds made an amazing flight to come here only to… you know, they were traumatized,” she said. “I’m very traumatized by it.”
Hawkins told WCTV it is exceedingly rare to see one of these birds. She said she hadn’t seen a Tundra Swan in Leon County in more than 20 years.
The last Tundra Swan sightings in Tallahassee, according to the popular web site eBird, was a solo sighting in 2015 and multiple sightings in 2002.
One of the birders who witnessed the shooting gave us a copy of the incident report from FWC.
The hunter is facing two second-degree misdemeanors for failing to have a current Federal Duck Stamp and violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty act.
According to the report, the hunter told an FWC officer that he had shot a Snow Goose, but when the officer checked, he found it was indeed the protected Tundra Swan.
“Hunters have to know the regulations, they have to know the species they’re hunting, and they need to know the difference, and if they don’t know what they’re shooting, they shouldn’t be shooting,” Hawkins said. “If they can’t tell the difference between a swan and a goose, they shouldn’t be having a gun in their hand.”
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