JJ Audobon wrote enthusiastically about passenger pigeons in Birds of America
(and elsewhere), where he describes a flock that is probably the largest
grouping of any animal ever documented

"The air was literally filled with pigeons; the light of noonday was
obscured as by an eclipse; the dung fell in spots not unlike melting flakes
of snow... For a week of more, the population fed on no other flesh than
that of pigeons... Let us take a column of one mile in breadth, which is
far below the average size, and suppose it passing over us without
interruption for three hours, at the rate mentioned above of one mile in the
minute. This will give us a parallelogram of 180 miles by 1, covering 180
square miles. Allowing 2 pigeons to the square yard, we have 1,115,136,000
pigeons in one flock."

In 1857, a bill was brought forth to the Ohio State Legislature seeking protection for the passenger pigeon. A Select Committee of the Senate filed a report stating “The passenger pigeon needs no protection. Wonderfully prolific, having the vast forests of the North as its breeding grounds, traveling hundreds of miles in search of food, it is here today and elsewhere tomorrow, and no ordinary destruction can lessen them, or be missed from the myriads that are yearly produced.”

Fifty-seven years later, on September 1, 1914, Martha, the last known passenger pigeon, died in the Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Extinct species (Ectopistes migratorius) of pigeon (subfamily Columbinae, family Columbidae).


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.

1898 Photograph of a Passenger Pigeon.
The last wild Passenger Pigeon was shot by a 14-year-old boy in Ohio in 1900, while the last known individual of the passenger pigeon species, named "Martha" after Martha Washington, died at 1 p.m. on the 1st of September 1914 in the Cincinnati Zoological Garden. She was 29.

In the early 1800s, there were eyewitness reports of pigeon flocks of epic proportions. The noted naturalist and artist, John James Audubon recalled a flock that passed overhead continuously in a single mass for three entire days. In his journal, he compared the effect from the shadow of the birds to an eclipse. Upon arriving at their roost, Audubon found the ground covered in almost two inches of bird droppings.  Arlie W. Schorger, an avian specialist, estimates that an astonishing one out of every four birds in North America was a passenger pigeon in Audubon's time (1785-1851).

The bird's extinction was largely responsible for ending the marketing of game birds and gave major impetus to the conservation movement.

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. They lived in enormous flocks—the largest of them a mile (1.6 ) wide and 300 miles (500 km) long, taking several days to pass and probably containing two billion birds.

During summer, Passenger Pigeons lived throughout the part of Northern America that is east of the Rocky Mountains. In the winter, they lived in the southern US.

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.

It was hunted for food, for hog feed, and shipped to the cities: in New York in 1805 a brace of pigeons went for two cents. But in the mid- 1800s it was noticeable that their numbers were dropping. The passenger pigeon only laid one egg at a time, so once numbers started to decline it would have taken time for them to start rising again. Almost all of the remaining quarter-million Passenger Pigeons were killed in a single day in 1896 by "sport" hunters, who knew they were shooting the last wild flock. The last wild Passenger Pigeon was shot in Ohio in 19001900 is the common year starting on Monday. see link for calendar) For the film, see 1900 (film). Events January January 1 Nigeria becomes British protectorate January 2 John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China. January 2 Chicag.

The last Passenger Pigeon, named MarthaMartha ( Judaeo-Aramaic Mart "The lady", French Sainte Marthe is a biblical figure of whom no historical facts outside of it are known. According to the gospel of John, she was the sister of Lazarus and witnessed her brother's resurrection. According to o, died in the Cincinnati ZooLocated in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens is the second oldest zoo in the United States, opened in 1875. The Philadelphia Zoo opened only fourteen months earlier, on July 1, 1874. It is one of the world's best zoos for visitors on September 1September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). There are 121 days remaining. Events 5509 BC The world was created, according to the Byzantine calendar. 327 start of first indiction cycle 1715 King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of, 1914. It was frozen into a block of ice to be sent to the Smithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is a museum complex with most of its facilities in Washington D. It consists of 16 museums, 7 research centers and 142 million items in its collections. A monthly magazine published by the Smithsonian Institution is also named to be skinned and mounted. It may be seen there today.


In light of new findings however, this image of a naturally plentiful species laid to waste by man is now being tested. Evidence collected over the past few years from a significant number of Native American archeological sites is beginning to upset long-accepted beliefs about one of the most famous extinct species in modern history.

Before the advent of more advanced communication devices, pigeons were used to send messages over long distances.  Like falconry, this is mainly a hobby today.

The late bluegrass singer/guitarist John Herald, lead singer of the Greenbrier Boys in which Ralph Rinzler was the mandolinist, wrote a song about the passenger pigeon entitled " Martha (Last of the Passenger Pigeons)." You can find the lyrics at , where there is a link to an MP3 of John singing the song along with a spoken intro. There
are many other references to be found by googling "herald passenger pigeon". Click here to listen to an MP3 version of this song.