The last known individual of the passenger pigeon species was "Martha" (named after Martha Washington). ’ And if the genome plops right next to all the other passenger pigeon genomes you’ve sequenced from history, then a geneticist will have to say, ‘This is a passenger pigeon. In July, 1605, on the coast of Maine, in latitude 43o25', Champlains saw on some islands an "infinite number of pigeons," of which he took a great quantity. Diet was different. The Last Days of the Passenger Pigeon, 100 Years Ago It took only a century for the passenger pigeon to go from North America’s most abundant bird species to extinction. Even the worst marksman could simply point a gun airborne, fire and bag hundreds of birds. Many early historians,who write of the birds of the Atlantic coast region, mention the Pigeons. On the other end of the spectrum, the world’s largest punt gun, “Irish Tom,” was reported to have taken down a little over 100 birds with a single shot, according to its original owner. Passenger pigeon, from Pigeons, Sir William Jardine, 1835 (public domain) Within his letter, Hadley also referred to a couple of other recent sightings, documented a month earlier by Kendrick Kimball in the Detroit News (5 January). Sources: Grand Traverse Herald, April 1880.
The mainstays of the passenger pigeon's diet were beechnuts, acorns, chestnuts, seeds, and berries found in the forests. The birds depended on the huge forests for their spring nesting sites, for winter roosts and for food. The passenger pigeon or wild pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to North America. Description: Offering a very rare poster from the Ithaca Gun Co. featuring the "Wild Passenger Pigeon." John Delph, "Firearms & Tackle-A Collectors Guide" lists two passenger pigeon posters but not this one. The passenger pigeon used a strange communal defense strategy to protect their numbers, called "predator satiation."

These birds measured about 16 inches long with a 2-foot wingspan, and weighed between 0.5 and 0.75 pounds (PA Game Commission 2010 ). Author: The Passenger Pigeon had a bluish gray head and rump, slate gray back, and a wine red breast. His 1955 book The Passenger Pigeon: Its Natural History and Extinction is considered the definitive study about the birds and their demise. The Passenger Pigeon was described by Linne in the latter part of the 18th century; but was well known in America many years before. The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was a large member of the pigeon family in eastern North America that went extinct over 100 years ago. This poster was copyrighted in 1911 and is an original. Hunters even developed weapons specifically designed to kill passenger pigeons, called punt guns. Its common name is derived from the French word passager, meaning "passing by", due to the migratory habits of the species. As long as a horse and weighing nearly a hundred pounds, punt guns could fire nearly a pound of birdshot at once. They had help from gun toters and netters from afar. It was not possible to reestablish the species with a few captive birds. The passenger pigeon was a colonial and gregarious bird and needed large numbers for optimum breeding conditions.

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But we can learn a lesson from Martha: No one will ever hunt a passenger pigeon again. Fascinated by passenger pigeons, Schorger would travel the nation collecting eyewitness accounts and other information about the birds. For the rest of us, though, it could serve as a call to take responsibility for how our personal and collective actions affect wildlife and climate.


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