Passenger Pigeons

It's possible that scavengers like foxes and raccoons would have benefited from a continued presence of passenger pigeons due to the abundance of food. Similarly, certain bird species that may have relied on the pigeons as a food source or for nesting sites could have also experienced changes in their populations due to the extinction of passenger pigeons.

The passenger pigeon gets its name from the French word "passager," which means "passing by" or "on a journey." This name likely refers to the bird's migratory behavior and the large flocks that would pass through an area. The passenger pigeon is now extinct, with the last known individual dying in 1914.

Passenger Pigeons were once the most abundant bird on earth. They were members of the dove family and lived in North America. They have been extinct since 1914 when the last one died in the Cincinnati Zoo.

The passenger pigeon, Ectopistes Migratorious, once the most populous bird on earth, went extinct because of overhunting in the early 1900's. The bird had a life span of 7-12 years, sometimes slightly more.

(This would probably indicate the lifespan in the wild: Martha, the last passenger pigeon, live and died in captivity at the age of 29. This is similar to the Rock Pigeon [the common city pigeon], that lives about 3 years in the wild, yet 15 to 20 years as a pet.)

Yes, but they can easily become feral if their wings are not clipped!

The species were driven to the brink of extinction during the 1800s by commerical hunting without regulations or consideration for the future of the bird. They were hunted until the flocks were scattered across North America, and the numbers of birds so small, that researchers believe the process needed to trigger breeding instincts were lost. So, the few birds left didn't reproduce at a rate to build the population, and they became extinct, when the final bird died in capitivity in 1914. Her name was Martha, and she died in the Cincinnati Zoo.

Yes, the last bird named "Martha" died on September 1, 1914 in the Cincinnati Zoo. The last wild birds died out by 1900. Before this a single flock was said to blacken the sky with birds for days, and a nesting colony in the northeast American forests, could be 20 miles across, and the sheer weight of the birds in the trees could break branches from the trunks of the trees. For more details please see sites listed below.

you can't find it because it is extinct because it was hunted to extinction, but it did still exist you could find it in North America

The Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius).

A young pigeon is called a squab.

Passenger pigeons, now extinct, were a member of the dove family. They were once the most numerous bird on the planet with flocks numbering in the billions. People hunted them for food. As the demand grew, teams would follow the flocks from place to place, not giving them time to nest By the late 1890's, hunting ceased because the few thousands that were left had scattered and it was no longer worthwhile to hunt them. But the birds disappeared because as colonial nesters, they needed large flocks to breed or they didn't try to nest. The last one recorded in the wild was in 1900, the last one on earth, "Martha", died in an Ohio zoo in 1914.

They are still being breed. The Passenger pigeon is the one that got extint.

Acorns, seeds, fruits, berries, planted grain crops, insects, and worms.

Once the most abundant bird in North America, with flocks numbering in the billions. This bird was hunted to extinction in the early 1900's.

The biggest reason was over hunting, but deforestation also contributed. The Passenger Pigeon was the largest species of birds, during the 1800's. It contained more individuals than all other North American birds combined. But sadly, by 1900s that powerful population had been reduced to one bird named," Martha" who died on September 1, 1914 in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo. At one time a single flock of passenger pigeons might have more than 2 billion birds. That is just one flock, there were many flocks in the US at the time of this bird's peak of abundance. But, unregulated commercial hunting, specifically for their meat, on a wholesale scale, used those large billion bird flocks to man's advantage and it devastated the birds populations. The species migration and nesting habits also made them easy targets for large number kills, either by netting, torching, or special firearms, even one, the forerunner of the machine gun. By 1855 one year in Michigan a billion birds were, so called "harvested". The passenger pigeon's population, of course suffered a collapse under the strain, and could not recover. There were no protection measures, no conservation lands. The pigeons left were scattered across the US and that made breeding difficult and the numbers continued to decline. By 1900 all wild passenger pigeons were extinct. Now, with today's knowledge, some believe that the species should have been able to recover from the uncontrolled commercial hunting, but the scattering of the birds may have been the final straw. The large flocks may have been part of their rituals for breeding and once scattered these rituals were not triggered, therefore the breeding declined and the species suffered extinction. For more details, please see sites listed below.
The passenger pigeon went extinct because of hunters over hunting the animal and habitat loss.

How does the pigeon protects itself?

The last passenger pigeon was named "Martha" and lived in the Cincinnati zoo until her death in 1914.

There are about 310 species of pigeons. Several are endangered. The passenger pigeon, which numbered from 3.5 to 5 billion, was hunted to extinction in about 80 years. The common Rock Pigeon (that we see in most large cities) does not even number 200 million, but is not at risk of going extinct.

The Socorro Dove is extinct in the wild (pigeons and doves are the same order and family, but different species. E.g., the common city pigeon, the Rock Pigeon is actually the Rock Dove); the Victoria Crowned Pigeon is Near Threatened (classification on the path to extinction); the Negros Fruit Dove, the Silver Pigeon and the Sulu Bleeding Heart remain with less that 50 in existence. There are a number of other pigeon species that have less than 500 individuals still alive.

The reasons for extinction are almost always related directly to mankind, in the destruction of habitats and hunting.

The passenger pigeon existed in vast flocks, migrating from place to place in search of food, mainly nuts and seeds, fruits. The birds refused to nest unless there were large numbers of birds in the colonies, and this may have eventually doomed them as the numbers plumetted from hunting pressure. Young fledged birds were left on the breeding grounds, and formed their own dense flocks.

The last living bird was "Martha" a female living in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo. She died on September 1, 1914. But the wild population is believed to have died off before the year 1900. For more details, please see sites listed below.

ray guns, bazooka, spass-12, aa-12, thunder gun.

No

Peregrine Falcons are the most threat for your pigeons.