Around this time, 102 years ago, the last Passenger Pigeon on earth died in a cage in a zoo in Ohio. A Message from Martha by Mark Avery is published by Bloomsbury – for reviews see here.
Category: passenger pigeon
Publication day for Remarkable Birds
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Today is the publication date for my latest book, Remarkable Birds. It’s a very attractive book, which I can say because I had only a little to do with the choice of illustrations and the laying out of the book. I wrote the words in between the marvellous artwork! The cover is an Audubon –…
Remember Martha
‘On 1 September 1914, between midday and 1 pm, in the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, Cincinnati, Ohio, a pigeon breathed her last, and with her died her species. The pigeon was known as Martha, and the species was the Passenger Pigeon. Amongst all extinctions, this example remains unusual in two respects: the precision with which…
The Bird Fair – some pictures with me in them
The world’s most-loved Hen Harrier gets all the glamour gigs but I enjoyed the Bird Fair too – I’ll give you some thoughts tomorrow. But here are some images with just a few words. I see that Simon Lester has his own version of the Q&A at the Bird Fair out on the GWCT website….
24 March 1900
On this day in 1900, the last wild Passenger Pigeon (perhaps) was shot in Ohio. It ended up in the Columbus Ohio History Center where it is still on display – and goes by the name of Buttons because when first stuffed, buttons were used for its eyes. Here are some lightly edited extracts from…