When Doves Cry

Ectopistes migratorius

         The Case of the

 Passenger Pigeon Extinction

Her name was Martha. She was the last passenger pigeon in existence and died in the Cincinnati zoo in 1914 to join the ranks of the auk, Tasmanian tiger, dodo et al..

So how could this US species, with a population of 3-5 billion (at the time of the European colonisation of America) pass into extinction so quickly, so easily?

Martha and her ancestors required large forests to exist. When the early settlers began to deforest the bird's habitat, the pigeons migrated to other locations, usually farms, to feed. They cause damage to crops and were shot by farmers. But the real damage came when hunters began netting the birds for sale as a food source. So great was the take that by the end of the 19^th c. the birds had nearly disappeared. As they require large flocks to persist, these birds, unable to adapt, never recovered. 

Good Reads:  A Feathered River Across the Sky by Joel Greenberg

Good Vibrations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmPUu-rMpWA