Passenger Pigeon

Some estimate that there were three billion to five billion passenger pigeons in the United States when Europeans arrived in North America.

The Passenger Pigeon is classified as Extinct (EX), there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.

Live passenger pigeon in 1896 Conservation status Extinct (1914) (IUCN 3.1) Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Columbiformes Family: Columbidae Genus: Ectopistes Swainson, 1827 Species: E. More

Information or research assistance regarding the passenger pigeon is frequently requested from the Smithsonian Institution. The following information has been prepared to assist those interested in this topic. The extinction of the passenger pigeon is a poignant example of what happens when the interests of man clash with the interests of nature. It is believed that this species once constituted 25 to 40 per cent of the total bird population of the United States. More

The Passenger Pigeon, once probably the most numerous bird on the planet, made its home in the billion or so acres of primary forest that once covered North America east of the Rocky Mountains. Their flocks, a mile wide and up to 300 miles long, were so dense that they darkened the sky for hours and days as the flock passed overhead. Population estimates from the 19th century ranged from 1 billion to close to 4 billion individuals. More

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. More

Passenger pigeon is the common name for an extinct migratory bird, Ectopistes migratorius, of the Columbidae family, that was a very common bird in North America as recently as the mid-nineteenth century. These short-billed, small-headed, social pigeons, about one foot long and with a long-pointed tail, lived in enormous flocks. During migration, billions of birds, in flocks up to a mile wide and hundreds of miles long, could take days to pass overhead. They also are known as wild pigeons. More

The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) or wild pigeon was a species of pigeon that was once the most common bird in North America. They lived in enormous flocks, and during migration, it was possible to see flocks of them a mile (1.6 km) wide and 300 miles (500 km) long, taking several days to pass and containing up to a billion birds. More

At the time, passenger pigeons had one of the largest groups or flocks of any animal, second only to the Rocky Mountain locust. Some reduction in numbers occurred because of habitat loss when the Europeans started settling further inland. The primary factor emerged when pigeon meat was commercialized as a cheap food for slaves and the poor in the 19th century, resulting in hunting on a massive scale. More

The Passenger Pigeon was described by Linne in the latter part of the 18th century; but was well known in America many years before. 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. Many early historians,who write of the birds of the Atlantic coast region, mention the Pigeons. More

The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was a species of bird, of the order Columbiformes, which once existed in the eastern part of North America. Among the most numerous animals in history, its spectacular extinction at the hands of man raised awareness for wildlife conservation, and better protections for threatened species. Contents - * 1 Name * 2 Description * 2. More

Historical information about Passenger Pigeons that you might not know! - A beautiful painting of a male Passenger Pigeon by Don Eckelberry. More

The Passenger Pigeon used to be the most common bird in North America. They lived in huge flocks, and during migration, they covered the sky, some flocks containing up to a million birds. According to some estimates there were as many as five billion passenger pigeons residing in North America when the Pilgrims arrived. Now there are none. I may have been common but I was still pretty. More

passenger pigeon: extinct species at Bagheera endangered species website EXINCT IN THE WILD extinct animals at Bagheera ENDANGERED EARTH NEWS for Februanry 2010 extinct animals at Bagheera ENDANGERED EARTH JOURNAL coming soon BAGHEERA ENDANGERED EARTH ENDANGERED EARTH NEWS ENDANGERED TV IMAGINE More

The Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was once probably the most numerous bird on Earth. In the 19th Century, there were between 1 and 4 billion Passenger pigeons - up to 40% of the total number of birds in North America. It occupied the millions of acres of primary forest across North America east of the Rockies, overwintering in the southern US. When a flock migrated, it could be up to a mile wide and up to 300 miles long. More

In all probability, the Passenger Pigeon was once the most abundant bird on the planet. Accounts of its numbers sound like something out of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and strain our credulity today. Alexander Wilson, the father of scientific ornithology in America, estimated that one flock consisted of two billion birds. Wilson's rival, John James Audubon, watched a flock pass overhead for three days and estimated that at times more than 300 million pigeons flew by him each hour. More

The passenger pigeon may have been the most abundant bird since archaeopteryx fluttered its first feather back in the late Jurassic. John James Audubon rode the 55 miles from Henderson, Kentucky, to Louisville one day in autumn 1813, and through the whole long day, he rode under a sky darkened from horizon to horizon by a cloud of passenger pigeons. He estimated that more than a billion birds had passed over him. In 1866, a cloud of birds passed into southern Ontario. More

Once, there were so many Passenger Pigeons that they may have been the most numerous bird ever to fly. By the early 1900s they were all gone. We killed them. The Passenger Pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius, inhabited North America east of the Rockies traveling and breeding in flocks containing millions of birds. The maximum population before the species went into decline may have been as high as five billion. More

captivated by Passenger Pigeons, now to own one is truly a god send and I am still at a lost for words to describe how I feel. I have assembled a wealth of information on the Passenger Pigeon. More

The Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was once probably the most common bird in the world. It is estimated that there were as many as five billion Passenger Pigeons in the United States. The Passenger Pigeon was a very social bird. It lived in colonies with up to a hundred nests in a single tree, and stretching over hundreds of square miles. During summer, Passenger Pigeons lived throughout the part of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. More

passenger pigeonHistory of passenger ...Passenger pigeon desc...Passenger pigeon habi...What do passenger pig...Where did the passeng...Passenger pigeon foodPassenger pigeon exti... PASSENGER PIGEON - 3 reference results passenger pigeonpassenger pigeon: see pigeon. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004. Licensed from Columbia University Press passenger pigeon Passenger pigeon, mounted (Ectopistes migratorius) Extinct species (Ectopistes migratorius) of pigeon (subfamily Columbinae, family Columbidae). Passenger pigeons were about 13 in. More

A pair of Passenger Pigeons, watercolour by John James Audubon (1785-1851). This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the European Union, Canada, the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years. More

passenger pigeon’s body shape and coloration were very similar to the mourning dove. The passenger pigeon was slightly larger than a mourning dove and exhibited an iridescent patch on the side of its neck. A mourning dove has black spots on its neck. At a distance, trained ornithologists had difficulty in distinguishing between the two species. There were no sub-species or races of the passenger pigeon identified before it became extinct. DISTRIBUTION: Ectopistes migratorius is an extinct species. More

The Passenger Pigeon was once common in eastern North America, but the species is now extinct. It became extinct in a very short period of time after its decline began; records from 1830 describe it migrating, roosting and nesting in enormous numbers, but by 1912, rewards were being offered for evidence of a live, wild bird. More

The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was a North American bird species in the order Columbiformes (pigeons and doves) that became extinct in the early twentieth century. The fate of the passenger pigeon serves as a graphic lesson in the misuse of natural resources, as the species went from an almost indescribable abundance to extinction in only a few decades. More

Aspects of the topic passenger pigeon are discussed in the following additional content sources. * Magazines * Gone Forever. Ask, July 2006 Expand Your Research: Try searching magazines and ebooks for "passenger pigeon". No results found. - Type a word or double click on any word to see a definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. More

The Passenger Pigeon is the official scholarly publication of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, an organization of both professional and non-professional ornithologists dedicated to the study of Wisconsin birds. First published in 1939, the quarterly journal features a wide range of original information about Wisconsin birds and their habitats, including seasonal field reports, results from annual Christmas bird counts, descriptions of May and Big Day counts, and scientific research articles. More

The Passenger Pigeon is North America’s best-known extinct species. It once flew in flocks of hundreds of thousands of individuals. About three to five billion Passenger Pigeons ranged across eastern North America; they may have been the most numerous bird species in history. More

CHAPTER VIThe Passenger PigeonFrom "Life Histories of North American Birds,"by Charles Bendire GEOGRAPHICAL Range: Deciduous forest regions of eastern North America; west, casually, to Washington and Nevada; Cuba. More

The Passenger Pigeon by William Butts Mershon Chapter XI. Recollections of "Old Timers" Chapter XII. The Last of the Pigeons→ CHAPTER XI Recollections of "Old Timers" MR. OSCAR B. WARREN now of Houghton, Mich., has been interested for years in collecting data about the Passenger Pigeon, and kindly turned over to me his entire budget. Among his letters is the following from Mr. H. T. More

Students, having never seen a Passenger Pigeon, may have trouble appreciating that this is a bird that they will never get to see alive. There are several familiar pigeons still around, including the Mourning Dove, the Rock Dove or "city pigeon," and the domesticated Carrier Pigeon or "homing pigeon." But the Passenger Pigeon, once one of the most abundant birds in the world, has been lost from the planet forever. More