On 1 September 1914, the last Passenger Pigeon on Earth, named Martha, died of old age in a cage in Cincinatti Zoo.
Once the most numerous bird on Earth, the last Passenger Pigeon in the wild expired in 1900 or perhaps 1901 and the bird was known only in captivity after that.
A bird that once darkened the skies over the forests of eastern North America is now just a distant memory – a bird of books and paintings rather than of the skies and forests.
I’ll spend a few quiet moments thinking about Martha and the billions of other Passenger Pigeons that we lost.
Writing by me about the Passenger Pigeon:
- It demeans us when we let a species die, Independent 1 September 2011
- A Message from Martha, 2014, Bloomsbury
- Sunday in Liverpool, 3 September 2013
- Post-pigeon: 100 years since most common bird’s extinction, Guardian 29 August 2014.
‘A Message from Martha’ is excellent. If you haven’t read it, you really should.
Andrew – thank you.
I can’t remember when I first heard about the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon, I know I was very young, and its has been one of the basal experiences governing my approach to nature. I wonder if any of those that saw Martha felt the same sorrow and anger I did seeing the last White-eyed River Martin in Thailand. R.I.P Martha ( and far to many others).
Hello, I have been an ornithologist for over 50 years. I am not convinced that humans alone, could possibly have cause the extinction of the wonderful Passenger Pigeon. One reputable report said a large mass killing was killing 50,000 a day – for 5 months -in Michigan. Terrible but — still that is “only” 7.5 million birds. Even IF that killing rate was CONSTANT it would take 100,000 days to kill them all. (279 YEARS?) SO –I don’ t think that is possible. I just don’t think people understand just how huge 3-5 billion really is! For most of the pigeons existence, guns were still just single shot. Even if EVER SINGLE shot killed 10 birds, you would have to shoot 500 million shots. AGAIN I don’t buy it. People killed in ALL the wars in all human history are still only an estimated 900 MILLION. Humans cannot kill 5 billions anything individually. The only gargantuan killers in the world, I believe, could be —–contagious disease and plague. That would explain it. I hear NO OTHER OPINION ON THIS ISSUE on the entire internet! No Blog, no Science. No university studies. NOTHNG. ZIPPO! Perhaps, like Martha, I am the last person on earth who still looks at this problem with some reason. For fun – Just tell me what OTHER subject on the entire internet has NO opposition to establish thought???
Bruce – you need to read my book, A Message from Martha.
FYI, I happened to come across a reference for the ‘50,000 a day’ figure. See ‘Later History’. The brutality & greed of the human race, unbelievable:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petoskey,_Michigan#History
m – many thanks.