![]() ![]() ![]() Flock density was so high that when two flocks flying in opposite directions collided, numerous stunned birds fell to the ground. Individual flocks were estimated to have contained more than three billion birds. Passenger pigeon flocks were famously huge - they darkened skies and took hours to fly by. It was driven to extinction by professional hunters (the birds were destined for food markets - American Indians also killed these birds as a source of food) and clear-cutting of forests. It is the only species whose extinction timing is very well known.Įctopistes migratorius occupied the central & eastern portions of temperate North America. The last known individual was a captive bird held at the Cincinnati Zoo. The species became extinct about 100 years ago. The passenger pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius, was at one time the # 1 most abundant bird in North America, and likely the # 1 most abundant bird on Earth. The story of the passenger pigeon is famous as an example of the idiotic destructive power of modern man ("Homo stupidus") & human overpopulation. The eradication of the species is a notable example of anthropogenic extinction.Description Ectopistes migratorius (passenger pigeon).jpgĮctopistes migratorius (Linnaeus, 1766) - passenger pigeon (extinct) (mount, public display, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Ilinois, USA). Martha, thought to be the last passenger pigeon, died on September 1, 1914, at the Cincinnati Zoo. The last captive birds were divided in three groups around the turn of the 20th century, some of which were photographed alive. In 1900, the last confirmed wild bird was shot in southern Ohio. A slow decline between about 18 was followed by a rapid decline between 18. There were several other factors contributing to the decline and subsequent extinction of the species, including shrinking of the large breeding populations necessary for preservation of the species and widespread deforestation, which destroyed its habitat. Pigeon meat was commercialized as cheap food, resulting in hunting on a massive scale for many decades. Passenger pigeons were hunted by Native Americans, but hunting intensified after the arrival of Europeans, particularly in the 19th century. It practiced communal roosting and communal breeding, and its extreme gregariousness may be linked with searching for food and predator satiation. The bird fed mainly on mast, and also fruits and invertebrates. A very fast flyer, the passenger pigeon could reach a speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). The pigeon migrated in enormous flocks, constantly searching for food, shelter, and breeding grounds, and was once the most abundant bird in North America, numbering around 3 billion, and possibly up to 5 billion. It mainly inhabited the deciduous forests of eastern North America and was also recorded elsewhere, but bred primarily around the Great Lakes. The juvenile was similar to the female, but without iridescence. The female was 380 to 400 mm (15.0 to 15.7 in), and was duller and browner than the male overall. The male was 390 to 410 mm (15.4 to 16.1 in) in length, mainly gray on the upperparts, lighter on the underparts, with iridescent bronze feathers on the neck, and black spots on the wings. The passenger pigeon was sexually dimorphic in size and coloration. Distribution map, with former range in orange and breeding zone in red ![]()
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