Fall of the Passenger Pigeon, 2019
The passenger pigeon was massacred by humans in the 19th century; coupled with deforestation, this led to its extinction in the early 1900's. A flock of passenger pigeons was documented in 1866 as being a mile in width and 300 miles in length — it took about 14 hours to pass and darkened the sky. The largest nesting recorded was 135 million adult birds; the largest flight was estimated to be 2 billion birds.  This beautiful pigeon loved to eat acorns, beechnuts, and chestnuts. A keystone species, its vast quantities of droppings and limb-breaking nesting habits enriched the soil and helped shape the ecology of North American forests. 

You may also like...

Back to Top