- passenger pigeon
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an extinct pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius, once found in great numbers in North America, noted for its sustained migratory flights.[1795-1805, Amer.]
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Passenger pigeons were about 13 in. (32 cm) long and had a long pointed tail; the male was pinkish, with a blue-gray head. Billions inhabited eastern North America in the early 19th century; migrating flocks darkened the skies for days at a time. Gunners began to slaughter them in huge numbers for shipping by railway carloads for sale in city meat markets. Martha, the last known passenger pigeon, died in 1914 in the Cincinnati Zoo. The bird's extinction was largely responsible for ending the marketing of game birds and gave major impetus to the conservation movement.Passenger pigeon, mounted (Ectopistes migratorius)Bill ReasonsThe National Audubon Society Collection/Photo Researchers* * *
▪ birdmigratory bird hunted to extinction by man. Billions of these birds inhabited eastern North America in the early 1800s; migrating flocks darkened the skies for days. As settlers pressed westward, however, passenger pigeons were slaughtered by the million yearly and shipped by railway carloads for sale in city markets. From 1870 the decline of the species became precipitous, and it became officially classified as extinct when the last known representative died on Sept. 1, 1914, in the Cincinnati (Ohio) Zoo.The passenger pigeon resembled the mourning dove and the Old World turtledove but was bigger (32 centimetres [about 13 inches]), with a longer pointed tail. The male had a pinkish body and blue-gray head. A single white egg was laid in a flimsy nest of twigs; more than 100 nests might occupy a single tree. The natural enemies of the passenger pigeon were hawks, owls, weasels, skunks, and arboreal snakes.The pigeon sometimes foraged in newly planted grainfields but otherwise did little damage to crops. Its greatest legacy to man was the impetus its extinction gave to the conservation movement. A monument to the passenger pigeon, in Wisconsin's Wyalusing State Park, declares: “This species became extinct through the avarice and thoughtlessness of man.”* * *
Universalium. 2010.