John Galluzzo, Independent Educator & Historian

The Bird War of Great Duck Island

In 1890, Great Duck Island, an important breeding ground for Herring Gulls, received a welcome aid to navigation; a lighthouse providing important protection for the fishermen around Frenchman’s Bay. Yet, the construction of the lighthouse coincided with two diametrically opposed movements on the island: the mass slaughter of these birds for the millinery trade and the rise of societies for the protection of such species. 

This presentation will explore how the Great Duck Island’s “Bird War” captures, in microcosm, the greater story of overhunting and species decimation on the Maine coast that had been occurring since the 17th century, a mixing of cultural norms that unfairly labelled the local Indigenous people as destroyers of native birds and their habitats, and the birth of wildlife protections that would ultimately send Herring Gulls to remarkable population and territorial expansion. In particular, this talk will discuss how the lighthouse keeper’s characterization of the Indigenous people, who he believed came to the island to poach eggs and hunt the birds, and his ensuing fight against them does not stand up to scrutiny as they were instead hired directly by milliners to collect plumes for the hat trade.

John Galluzzo is a historian, educator, and development professional with over two decades of experience across a variety of nonprofits. He holds a B.A. in History from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and studied at the Munson Institute of American Maritime Studies. John has published extensively on regional history, maritime heritage, and environmental topics, and dedicates his time to a number of organizations, including the Foundation for Coast Guard History. He has held roles at organizations such as the Massachusetts Audubon Society, United States Life-Saving Service Heritage Association, and Scituate Historical Society.