Feathery courtship

This morning I saw a colony of Great White Herons nesting in trees in a park along a lake near my parents' house. Single herons displayed their plumage in one tree while couples squawked and spooned and carried sticks to build nests in another. I counted eight birds in one large tree and more nearby.

I used to ride my bike to this park in my adolescence, but I don't recall ever seeing this kind of assemblage of gorgeous birds. Maybe I was too distracted by the hunky young men rowing sculls on the lake, an entirely different type of courting behavior. What would human beings do with the herons' amazing plumage?