Project Passenger Pigeon
Lessons from the Past for a Sustainable Future
The story of the passenger pigeon is unlike that of any other bird. With a likely population between 3 and 5 billion, it was the most abundant bird in North America and probably the world. Yet human exploitation drove this species to extinction over the course of a few decades.
The last bird died on September 1, 1914, making 2014 the centenary of this extraordinary extinction. Project Passenger Pigeon (P3) came into being to mark this anniversary and promote the conservation of species and habitat, strengthen the relationship between people and nature, and foster the sustainable use of natural resources. The project engaged a broad audience through a documentary film, a book, a dedicated website, social media, curricula, and a wide range of exhibits and programming for people of all ages. Project Passenger Pigeon was an international effort to commemorate this anniversary and use it not only as an opportunity to familiarize people with this remarkable species, but also to raise awareness of current issues related to human-caused extinction, explore connections between humans and the natural world, and inspire people to become more involved in building a sustainable relationship with other species.
While the project itself has come to a close, P3 can still play a valuable role by providing an historical view on species conservation and by inspiring the work of artists (of all media) that deal with conservation. A myriad of species are currently suffering declines due to a host of human-caused activities: the story of the passenger pigeon remains a powerful cautionary tale that even the most abundant of species is not immune from potential extinction. By remembering the stories of the passenger pigeon and other lost species and then tying those lessons to modern-day issues, we can strengthen the relationship between people and the rest of nature, and show how each of us can live more sustainably within the Earth’s limited natural resources.
Keep reading to learn more about P3, the story of the passenger pigeon, and the Year of the Passenger Pigeon.
The Year of the Passenger Pigeon
The year 2014 marked the centenary of the extinction of the passenger pigeon – once the most abundant bird species in North America, if not the world. A group of scientists, educators, conservationists, artists, musicians, filmmakers, and others worked together to use the anniversary of the passenger pigeon's extinction to engage people in this remarkable story and to use it as an opportunity to promote habitat preservation and species conservation. Project Passenger Pigeon's goals were to: a) familiarize people in North America and beyond with the passenger pigeon and its extinction; b) explore how human activity impacts other species; and c) motivate people to take actions that both promote biodiversity and prevent human-caused extinctions.
In the year 1800, more than 5 billion passenger pigeons crisscrossed the skies of the eastern United States and Canada. Passing flocks could darken the skies for three days straight. However, in the face of relentless slaughter for food and recreation, coupled with habitat loss, this seemingly inexhaustible resource was depleted in just a few decades. By 1900, the species was virtually extinct, and in 1914, the last of the species died in the Cincinnati Zoo.
The story of how the most abundant bird in North America disappeared so quickly is unique in the annals of human history. Though a century has passed since the loss of this species, it remains a poignant example of nature's abundance, as well as a powerful reminder of humanity's ability to exhaust seemingly endless riches. The echoes of the passenger pigeon's life still resonate today and can teach us lessons of stewardship, hope, and sustainable living for the 21st century.
Today, more than half of the world's population lives in cities, isolated from the natural world that sustains them, yet no species or environment is isolated enough to escape the influence of humanity. We tend to discount other species and forget how integral they are to our well-being, yet extinction threatens many kinds of life. Besides our dependence on other species and their habitats for all aspects of our survival, including food, shelter, and medicines, we take pleasure in their beauty and rely on them for recreational and spiritual sustenance. Imagine never again enjoying the color and fragrance of your favorite flowers, or watching squirrels scurry through the trees.
The passenger pigeon's story is proof that even common species can be lost forever if we do not interact with them in a sustainable manner. The centenary of the passenger pigeon's extinction provided a portal through which we could highlight the connections all of us have to the natural world and the power we each have to influence the world for good.
Though the world is a different place than when the last passenger pigeon flocks flew, the impact of its extinction is still felt, and the lessons of the bird's life and loss have considerable relevance today. The creation of many conservation laws and initiatives were inspired by the passenger pigeon's extinction, yet human-caused extinctions are still occurring, and at an accelerating and unprecedented rate. Many species are threatened or endangered, perhaps poised to become the passenger pigeons of the present. In fact, many scientists believe that we are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction in the 4.5 billion-year history of our planet—one almost entirely driven by human actions. It is our hope that the story of the passenger pigeon's extinction will serve as an opportunity to reflect and act, so that we can learn to better manage our relationships with other species and become more responsible members of the ecologically and evolutionarily dynamic natural communities in which we live.
This international effort aimed to familiarize as many people as possible with the history of the passenger pigeon and its extinction; raise awareness of how the issue of extinction is ecologically, culturally, and morally relevant to the 21st century; encourage and support respectful relationships with other species; motivate people to take actions to prevent human-caused extinction, and to promote biodiversity through habitat preservation and restoration, captive breeding programs, government initiatives, and other measures. Perhaps most importantly, it aimed to inspire people to think about their own role within the larger biotic community and to develop curiosity and wonder for the complexity, mystery, and uniqueness of the species we share the planet with.
Through a wide range of activities in four main categories— educational materials, exhibitions, public events, and community engagement—Project Passenger Pigeon accomplished these goals. Each of these categories presented the history of the passenger pigeon in a way that encouraged hope while also drawing parallels with contemporary issues to promote action towards a sustainable future for today's species.
Educational materials for the primary and secondary school levels were designed to meet state science education standards. Archived versions of these lesson plans can be found here. They were originally distributed online, through formal and informal educator networks and participating institutions.
Other audiences were reached through websites and exhibits elucidating the passenger pigeon story and those of other species currently in peril. Materials were also created to allow communities, libraries, and other institutions to create their own passenger pigeon-related exhibits. Public events and cultural activities were also held in conjunction with local artists and institutions to help people realize the physical, biological, and inspirational scale of the passenger pigeon.
Community members were invited and encouraged to create and distribute their own educational materials about the passenger pigeon, the meaning of extinction, what steps are needed to halt human-caused extinctions, and what we can do to restore and better co-inhabit our shared places. This included contests and other means of community science and engagement, facilitated by cyber infrastructure and social media.
Project Passenger Pigeon operated at three levels. One level sought to bring about activities on the national levels of Canada, the United States, and other interested countries. This included advocating legislative resolutions; working for issuance of commemorative postage stamps; engaging the national media through contact and the provision of information and speakers; facilitating the production of a documentary film, and other activities.
Another level sought to build and support a broad network of participants including local, state, provincial and regional institutions such as museums, zoos, nature centers, universities, primary and secondary schools, and other governmental, cultural, and educational entities.
Finally, P3 sought to catalyze the participation of individual citizens in activities that stimulate conservation action and turn the tragic story of the passenger pigeon into one of inspiration and progress.
But the most remarkable characteristic of these birds is their associating together, both in their migrations, and also during the period of incubation, in such prodigious numbers, as almost to surpass belief; and which has no parallel among any of the other feathered tribes on earth, with which naturalists are acquainted.
"American Ornithology," by Alexander Wilson
learn more about extinction through this online exhibit
Biodiversity at RiskAbout the Passenger Pigeon
Legendary among ornithologists and lay people alike as a symbol of staggering abundance on the one hand and of human greed and indifference on the other, the passenger pigeon is arguably North America’s best known extinct species. Historical accounts of its huge flocks appear beyond belief were they not so consistent among independent observers for over three centuries.
It is reported they darkened the sky for hours or even days at a time. The beats of their wings would create drafts that chilled the people over whom they flew.
It is estimated that the passenger pigeon was once the most abundant land bird in North America, comprising an estimated 3 billion to 5 billion individuals, perhaps a quarter of the continent’s avifauna (Schorger 1955). Despite its vast flocks, this pigeon was extinct in the wild by the end of the 19th Century. Its last representative, the fabled Martha, died on September 1, 1914, in the Cincinnati Zoo.
The key to the passenger pigeon's abundance was its nomadic flocking behavior, which allowed it to exploit seasonally superabundant crops of mast and acorns that were unpredictable in space and time. Passenger pigeons nested singly and in groups of all sizes, but the larger part of the population nested in huge colonies. Aggregating in such immense numbers allowed the species to satiate any potential predators, until they attracted the ultimate predator—humans armed with 19th Century technology.
The dramatic decline to extinction in the wild occurred over a period of only 40 years. The birds were subjected to unrelenting exploitation as an item of commerce and sport, with human disruption of essentially every nesting colony. During this period, there were no documented uninterrupted and completely successful mass nestings, which were necessary to sustain the population. You can read more accounts from the period in The Passenger Pigeon, compiled and edited by W. B. Mershon.
The passenger pigeon and the rock dove (Columba livia, aka rock pigeon, carrier pigeon, etc.) are often confused in the public’s mind, but they are not closely related. The rock dove is a Eurasian species that has been semi-domesticated for centuries and has been introduced into North America. They like to nest on ledges, which is one reason they have proliferated in cities around the world in a feral state.
The passenger pigeon was a bird solely of North America, with the vast majority inhabiting a region from the Gulf States to Hudson’s Bay, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the upper Missouri River. Three things made them unique in all the world:
- they were the most abundant bird of the continent, if not the world: no one knows for sure how many there were but the most careful figure offered ranges from a low of 3 billion to a high of 5 billion individuals;
- they aggregated in numbers that darkened the sky for as much as three days: individual flights might have exceeded 2 billion birds; and
- in literally decades, human actions reduced this incredible bounty to zero.
Given that it is extinct, very little was known about its relationships to other birds until recently.
You can get a closer look at passenger pigeon specimens from the Chicago Academy of Sciences natural history collection in this YouTube video.
Scientists divide the vast array of life forms into categories based on the similarities and relationships between organisms. From broadest to narrowest, these categories are Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, species. All the birds of the world are in the Phylum Chordata, Kindom Animalia, Class Aves and then are divided into 26 orders (based on the taxonomy of James Clements). These orders include the Falconiformes (hawks), Anseriformes (ducks and geese mostly), Strigiformes (owls), and Passeriformes (the largest order of all which includes the perching birds like warblers, swallows, flycatchers, finches, thrushes, and sparrows).
All pigeons are members of the order Columbiformes which have a number of characteristics that together set them apart from other birds. These include a bilobed crop that produces a sort of “milk” that is fed to the chicks (“crop” is a pocket like space near the throat); monogamous mating behavior; the ability to drink by sucking or pumping; and thick feathers set close to the skin. On a general level, pigeons possess stocky bodies with small heads, bills, and feet (passenger pigeons were among the sleekest of pigeons). There are 42 genera and 308 recognized species of Columbiformes.
There is no difference between pigeons and doves: the terms are interchangeable. Pigeons are found throughout the world. Some pigeon species eat mostly fruit, whereas others forage on seeds. The fruit-eating Columbiformes tend to be much more vividly colored than the seed eating ones. The largest species is the Victoria crowned pigeon (Goura victoria) of New Guinea which approaches the size of a turkey and can weigh in excess of 8 pounds. The smallest species are members of the ground dove genus (Columbina): they can be as small as house sparrows and weigh not more than 22 grams.
Until recently, the relationship of the passenger pigeon with respect to other pigeon species has been simply speculation based on gross plumage characteristics. However, genetic data published in 2010 by Johnson and colleagues (Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 57:455) show that, despite the gross similarity in appearance to mourning doves and its relatives (the genus Zenaida), the passenger pigeon is not closely related to this group of pigeons at all. In fact, its closest relatives are a group of large-bodied pigeons from the New World in the genus Patagioenas, which includes the western band-tailed pigeon among others. Even so, scientists believe that the passenger pigeon is still different enough from other extant pigeons to remain in its unique genus, Ectopistes. Based on an analysis of the evolutionary tree constructed from genetic data, Johnson and colleagues (2010) hypothesized that eons ago an Asian cuckoo dove crossed into North America and provided the ancestor to both Ectopistes and Patagioenas.
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Passenger pigeon study skin from the Chicago Academy of Sciences collection.
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The band-tailed pigeon, still surviving, is in the genus Patagioenas, the closest living relatives of the passenger pigeon.
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The superb fruit dove. (Neil T/Wikimedia Commons)
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The Nicobar pigeon.
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The Victoria crowned pigeon.
In the Midwest & Across North America
The passenger pigeon occurred only in North America, primarily east of the Rocky Mountains, and bred almost exclusively in the eastern deciduous forest. Assembled here are facts about the passenger pigeon's last known sightings, known historical specimens, and more, across the United States and Canada. Click the button below to download the complete document divided by state, province, and territory, or keep reading to explore Midwest occurrences.
(Compiled by Joel Greenberg)
Off the county that bears his name, Zebulon Pike found countless numbers of passenger pigeons nesting on an island in the Mississippi River in 1806 (that island, evidently, could just have easily been in Iowa). Otherwise, there are no records that Illinois ever hosted large nestings, although the bird regularly nested by the pair or in small colonies. But the bird was seen in all parts of the state and at all times of the year, with the big flocks moving through most often in early spring and late fall. In northern Illinois, at least, the species was deemed to be still abundant up to 1882.
Last Records of the Passenger Pigeon:
All but one of these is from the northern part of the state. Chicago Tribune writer Edward Clark described a beautiful male he watched in Lincoln Park in Chicago in April 1893. A young female was shot near Lake Forest, Lake County, on August 7, 1895. The male reportedly taken in Bryn Mawr (now Chicago) on September 30, 1901, could just have easily been taken on September 30, 1891. But one was shot in the spring of 1901 in Oakford, Menard County. It is the second to the last passenger pigeon known to be shot in the wild.
Places Likely Named for Passenger Pigeon:
There are at least 13 places in Illinois with pigeon in the name:
- Pigeon Roost Creek in Alexander County
- Pigeon Creek in Iroquois County, Jefferson County, Marshall County, Pike County, and Williamson County
- Pigeon Creek Settling Basin in Pike County
- Pigeon (historical town) in Jefferson County
- Pigeon Grove Township in Iroquois Township
- Pigeon Hill Park in Aurora, Kane County
- Pigeon Hollow (valley) in Knox County
- Pigeon Creek Cemetery in Williamson County
- White Pigeon (named for Potawatomi chief whose name refers to passenger pigeon) in Whiteside County
Illinois Highlights:
Modoc Rock Shelter, an Archaic site in Randolf County, was first used by humans 9,000 years ago. Over 900 bird bones representing at least 56 species were recovered. Forty-six passenger pigeon bones were part of the mix. Now owned by the State of Illinois, the Modoc Rock Shelter is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark.
When one approached the country of the Illinois, one sees during the day, clouds of doves, a kind of wood or wild pigeon. A thing that may perhaps appear incredible is that the sun is obscured by them; . . . sometimes as many as 80 of them are killed with one shot.
- N. Bossu (1768)
One Chicago newspaper dated September 17, 1836, says that within the past several days “our town was swarming with pigeons, the horizon in almost every direction was black with them.” Nineteen years after that yet another report claimed “a flock of pigeons, over six miles in length” crossed the city’s skies.
Every afternoon [the pigeons] came sweeping across the lawn, positively in clouds, and with a swiftness and softness of winged motion, more beautiful than anything of the kind I ever knew. Had I been a musician, such as Mendelssohn, I felt that I could have improvised a music quite peculiar, from the sound they made, which should have indicated all the beauty over which their wings bore them.
- Margaret Fuller (a prominent 19th century journalist, critic, and feminist), on the Rock River near Oregon, Illinois, 1843.
Joseph Dodson grew up near Alton in the mid-19th century and remembered that his parents would send him out to retrieve wounded birds shot by the hundreds of hunters who killed multitudinous pigeons as they migrated along the river. His family built cages and rehabbed the birds that were later released when they recovered. This is unique in the passenger pigeon annals.
Chicago was a center for the 19th century game trade, with several large dealers headquartered there. Bond and Ellsworth, for example, had a large warehouse holding thousands of live passenger pigeons located at 163 South Water Street. Another facility catering to the shooting trade took up forty acres Fullerton and Diversey on the western edge of the city. The presence of the dealers and their wares also led to the establishment of venues that specialized in pigeon shoots. The best known was Dexter Park, on the south side. One match in 1877 involved the shooting of 5,000 passenger pigeons. Illinois was also home to Adam Bogardus, of Elkhart, and Abe Kleinman of Chicago, two of the super stars among shooters of live passenger pigeons and other birds.
The only passenger pigeon flock that was ever studied by scientists was kept by Prof. Charles Otis Whitman in his backyard in Hyde Park, Chicago. It is likely that Martha, the last of the passenger pigeons, was born here as Whitman conveyed a female to the Cincinnati Zoo in 1902. Whitman’s flock persisted until the fall of 1907, when the final two birds died of tuberculosis.
Illinois Locations Known to Have Passenger Pigeon Skins, Mounts, and or Skeletons:
- Carbondale: Southern Illinois University
- Chicago: 1) Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum of the Chicago Academy of Sciences; 2)* Field Museum of Natural History
- Decatur: *Milliken University
- DeKalb: Northern Illinois University
- Elgin: *Elgin Public Museum of Nature and Anthropology
- Lisle: *Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum at Illinois Benedictine University
- Normal: Illinois State University
- Rockford: 1)* Burpee Museum of Natural History; 2) *Severson Dells Environmental Center
- Springfield: *Illinois State Museum
- Urbana-Champaign: Illinois Natural History Survey at University of Illinois
* If an asterisk appears, at least one passenger pigeon is known to be on display; this list is mainly based on Hahn's Where is That Vanished Bird (1963).
Read Fascinating Historical Accounts of the Passenger Pigeon in Illinois
Wisconsin’s A.W. [Bill] Schorger (1884-1972) spent many years researching the history of the passenger pigeon, and he summarized his findings in his 1955 book, The Passenger Pigeon: Its Natural History and Extinction. At the time of its publication, the book was the most comprehensive account of the species. Schorger did an excellent job summarizing the nearly 10,000 historical records he discovered in libraries and historical societies around the country, but his original research notes contain many additional details.
For the 2014 centennial, Professor Stanley Temple of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has made all Schorger’s handwritten research notes available in digital form. This link will take you to a table that provides details of all the historical records Bill Schorger discovered for Illinois. [Schorger-IL.pdf]
Read Historical Accounts from Schorger's Original Field Notes about the Passenger Pigeon in Illinois
The links below give access to often-firsthand, eyewitness accounts of pigeons, the table includes a cross reference to the exact page in Schorger’s notes where you can read the full text of the account and find a citation of the original source document. These documents will open in their own window. Use the links below to find the page containing the account you’re interested in exploring further:
Schorger pages 1-329
Schorger pages 330-632
Schorger pages 633-959
Schorger pages 960-1242
Schorger pages 1243-1585
Schorger pages 1586-1890
Schorger pages 1891-2232
Schorger pages 2233-2556
(Compiled by Joel Greenberg)
Indiana knew passenger pigeons as nesting birds throughout its length and breadth but mostly as singles or small colonies. Many more passed through in spring and fall, or stayed throughout the winter. The size of their winter roosts depended on the availability of mast, mostly beechnuts. Amos Butler, in Birds of Indiana (1897), says that on occasion he found frozen birds during bouts of severe cold.
Last Records of the Passenger Pigeon:
The last passenger pigeon known to be shot in the wild for which there is no doubt was killed on April 3, 1902, in Laurel, Franklin County. Inspired by this record, a memorial to this bird was installed on April 3, 2017, at the Whitewater Canal State Historic Site in Metamora, Franklin County.
Places Likely Named for Passenger Pigeon:
There are at least 16 places in Indiana with pigeon in the name and at least one other referring to the bird:
- Pigeon Roost (rise) in Floyd County
- Pigeon Lake in La Grange County and Steuben County
- Pigeon River State Fish and Wildlife Area in La Grange County
- Pigeon Ridge (rise) in Martin County
- Pigeon Roost Station (town) in Scott County
- Pigeon Creek Church in Spencer County
- Pigeon (town) in Spencer County
- Pigeon Roost Hill (rise) in Starke County
- Pigeon Creek (stream) in Steuben County and Vanderburgh County
- Pigeon Township in Vanderburgh County and Warrick Township
- Pigeon Roost Memorial (park) in Washington County
- Pigeon Roost Creek (stream) in Washington County
- Pigeon Number Two Ditch (canal) in Wells County
- Huntingburg (town named for nearby pigeon roost that drew numerous hunters) in Du Bois County
Indiana Highlights:
Passenger pigeon remains have been found at the Bowen site, among the most important Woodland Period settlements in the state. Located on a glacial out-wash terrace, it is located on the banks of the White River in Marion County. Bowen was started around 1000 AD by people influenced by the Mississippian culture.
Passenger pigeon bones have also been recovered at Angel Mounds State Historic Site, near Evansville. About 500 to 700 years ago, the area was a thriving Mississippian Indian town and was indeed the largest settlement in Indiana. It served as the center of trade, government and religion for smaller satellite communities within a 70-mile radius. The site is maintained by the Indiana State Museum and opened to the public.
[My father] says, in 1831-2, the pigeon roosts in the vicinity of Vernon, which had become noted as the most extensive in that part of the State, were occupied by great numbers of pigeons. They moved in flocks so large the sky could not be seen in any direction as far as the eye could reach. They also nested in that locality in great abundance.
- Amos Butler, Birds of Indiana (1897)
The pigeons came in such flocks [in Wabash County] that we frequently found places where they had settled so thickly on the branches of trees having brittle wood, such as maple and beech, that quite good-sized limbs had been broken down from the weight of the pigeons that swarmed over then to brood by night. In my childhood it was customary for men to take long poles and big bags and lanterns and go searching through the woods until they found of these perching places of the pigeons. The half-a-dozen men would flash the lanterns in such a manner that the light would blind the birds, and with the clubs others would beat the birds from the limbs, strike them down and gather them up by the bagful.
- Gene Stratton-Porter (mid 1870s), Tales You Won't Believe (1925)
In the early seventies of the last century, wild pigeons were plentiful in Dubois County. They flew over Jasper in flocks long enough to hide the sun, often in what seemed a quarter of a mile wide and twice as long. Occasionally they would feed on the mast on what is now "Little Round Top" — the residence of Wm. F. Beckman, near the center of Section 26, at Jasper, then they flew eastward across Buffalo Pond. In that flight they often swooped down the valley between and in doing so a few hit the buildings at the home of the writer. Then it became his duty to gather up the birds that had broken a wing or became otherwise unable to fly. Mother used to make a wild pigeon pie . . .
- George Wilson, Historical Notes on DuBois County, Vol. VII, date unknown, Jasper, IN Public Library (courtesy of Theresia Schwinghammer)
Formerly abundant. Would light in our wheat and soon eat the whole crop. They both roosted and nested here. We trapped them. I only recall seeing one pigeon after 1900.
- Ned Barker, Sumava, and Amos Butler notes
Indiana Locations known to have Passenger Pigeon Skins, Mounts, and or Skeletons:
- Clarksville: *Falls of the Ohio State Park
- Indianapolis: Indiana State Museum
- South Bend: *Notre Dame Natural History Museum at Notre Dame University
- Richmond: *Joseph Moore Museum at Earlham College
* If an asterisk appears, at least one passenger pigeon is known to be on display; this list is mainly based on Hahn's Where is That Vanished Bird (1963).
Read Fascinating Historical Accounts of the Passenger Pigeon in Indiana
Wisconsin’s A.W. [Bill] Schorger (1884-1972) spent many years researching the history of the passenger pigeon, and he summarized his findings in his 1955 book, The Passenger Pigeon: Its Natural History and Extinction. At the time of its publication, the book was the most comprehensive account of the species. Schorger did an excellent job summarizing the nearly 10,000 historical records he discovered in libraries and historical societies around the country, but his original research notes contain many additional details
For the 2014 centennial, Professor Stanley Temple of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has made all Schorger’s handwritten research notes available in digital form. This link will take you to a table that provides details of all the historical records Bill Schorger discovered for Indiana. [Schorger-IN.pdf]
Read Historical Accounts from Schorger's Original Field Notes about the Passenger Pigeon in Indiana
The links below give access to often-firsthand, eyewitness accounts of pigeons, the table includes a cross reference to the exact page in Schorger’s notes where you can read the full text of the account and find a citation of the original source document. These documents will open in their own window. Use the links below to find the page containing the account you’re interested in exploring further:
Schorger pages 1-329
Schorger pages 330-632
Schorger pages 633-959
Schorger pages 960-1242
Schorger pages 1243-1585
Schorger pages 1586-1890
Schorger pages 1891-2232
Schorger pages 2233-2556
(Compiled by Kyle Bagnall and Cindy Laug and edited by Joel Greenberg)
Passenger Pigeons once nested in enormous numbers throughout Michigan. Large passenger pigeon nestings were reported sporadically in Michigan from 1843-1860 and in alternate years from 1866-1878. In 1876, there were no fewer than three nestings in the state, one each in Newaygo, Oceana, and Grand Traverse Counties. The “last grand nesting” of passenger pigeons known occurred near Petoskey in 1878, blanketing a region 40 miles long and three to 10 miles wide.
Last Records of the Passenger Pigeon:
The last nestings of any size in Michigan occurred in 1880 along the Platte River, Benzie County and 1881 in Grand Traverse County. The last flock found nesting together in the state occurred in 1886 near Lake City, Missaukee County. The last reliable sighting of a large flock in flight occurred near Cadillac, Wexford County, in 1888. In October 1895 a single bird was shot by Dr. Ernest Copeland in Delta County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Three years later the last known specimen from the state was taken near Detroit. A small group were said to have nested on the headwaters of the Au Sable River in 1896. Additional sightings reported as late as 1905 are likely inaccurate.
Places Likely Named for the Passenger Pigeon:
There are no fewer than 17 places in Michigan with pigeon in the name:
- Pigeon Creek in Allegan County
- Pigeon Lake in Benzie County (Benzie County was the location of a huge Passenger Pigeon nesting in 1874. For an excellent description, see Memorials of a Half Century, by Bela Hubbard. New York: G.P. Putnam’s & Sons. 1887. p.307-310)
- Pigeon Creek in Calhoun County
- Pigeon River in Cheboygan and Montmorency Counties
- Pigeon River Country State Forest in Cheboygan, Montmorency and Otsego Counties (Home of the largest free-ranging elk herd east of the Mississippi River.)
- Pigeon Point and Pigeon Cove in Chippewa County
- Pigeon Lake in Gogebic CountyVillage of Pigeon and Pigeon River in Huron County
- Pigeon Hill in Muskegon County (This large sand dune once soared 217 feet above Muskegon, along the Lake Michigan shore. An iconic feature of the region, it served as a backdrop for a well-known actor’s colony from 1908-1938. By 1938, sand mining operations had reduced the former Passenger Pigeon nesting area to nothing more than a series of sandy lumps, no more than 10 feet high. Today, a condominium complex is on the site.)
- Pigeon Lake in Oceana County
- Pigeon River, Pigeon Lake and Pigeon Creek Park in Ottawa County
- Town of White Pigeon and Pigeon River in St. Joseph County (Named in memory of a Potawatomi Indian named White Pigeon or Wapmeme. He died in 1830, at about 30 years of age. In 1909 a monument to him was erected on the edge of town.)
Michigan Highlights:
Passenger pigeons were an important source of food for Ojibwa, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples for many hundreds of years. An early written account from Michigan was recorded by John Tanner, who was captured by Native Americans in 1789 as a boy and lived among them for 30 years. He first hunted pigeons in 1792 near St. Ignace, in the eastern Upper Peninsula.
Archaeological records include a wing bone fragment found at the Cater Site in Midland County. This multicomponent site was first used as a seasonal Ojibwa village c.1815 and subsequently by a white settler c.1840.
Newspaper reports of pigeon shooting in Michigan are recorded as early as December 4, 1839, when the Niles Inquirer reported “Great pigeon shooting. Mr. Henry Keats recently shot 18 shots at 784 pigeons. They were on a sand bar where they had alighted for gravel and water.”
On May 20, 1848, the Detroit Free Press reported, “GET OUT YOUR FOWLIN PIECES. — Within the last few days large flocks of pigeons have passed over the City, and at some times the heavens seemed filled with them. A sportsman on the opposite side of the river killed over a hundred one evening last week, shooting into the flocks as they passed over.”
An excellent account of passenger pigeon nesting in Michigan was recorded by Chief Simon Pokagon, a Native American of the Potawatomi Nation, published in The Chautauquan in October 1895. Reprinted widely, the recollection reads, in part: “About the middle of May 1850 while in the fur trade I was camping on the head waters of the Manistee River in Michigan. One morning on leaving my wigwam I was startled by hearing a gurgling rumbling sound as though an army of horses laden with sleigh bells was advancing through the deep forests toward me. As I listened more intently I concluded that instead of the tramping of horses it was distant thunder and yet the morning was clear calm and beautiful. Nearer and nearer came the strange commingling sounds of sleigh bells mixed with the rumbling of an approaching storm. While I gazed in wonder and astonishment I beheld moving toward me in an unbroken front millions of pigeons the first I had seen that season. They passed like a cloud through the branches of the high trees through the underbrush and over the ground apparently overturning every leaf. Statue like I stood half concealed by cedar boughs. They fluttered all about me lighting on my head and shoulders gently I caught two in my hands and carefully concealed them under my blanket...”
Pigeon shooting matches were popular in Michigan as early as 1858. Detroit, Pontiac and Flint were among the cities known for their contests, organized by wealthy sportsmen in groups such as the Detroit Pigeon Club. As early as 1860, matches drew wagers up to $300 a side, with 400 birds being shot at.
Market hunting for pigeons exploded in Michigan through the 1860 and 1870s. In 1860, eight shippers in Grand Rapids packed 688 barrels of pigeons from March 28th to July 11, totaling 105,855 pounds. Aggregate value from this single season totaled $523,520, not including “the great quantity consumed in our home market.” In 1878, the “grand nesting” at Petoskey resulted in an estimated 1,500,000 dead birds for the summer besides 80,352 living birds sent in coops for the sport shooting market.
The first book length account ever written on the species was authored by former Saginaw mayor and conservationist William Butts Mershon. Published in 1907, The Passenger Pigeon is a remarkable collection of personal memories, scientific information, and a collection of accounts representing the best that were available.
Michigan became the first and only state or province to ban all killing of the passenger pigeon. Unfortunately, the law was passed in 1898, way too late to save the bird but a significant moment in passenger pigeon history none the less. Another first in the history of the bird was the attempt by H.B. Roney and two others to limit the killing at the 1878 Petoskey nesting by seeking to enforce the weak game laws that were on the books. Several violators were fined as a result of their efforts.
An eloquent (and lengthy) description of passenger pigeon nesting behavior and the brutality of hunting methods used by market hunters appeared in the New York World in June 1874 and was reprinted widely. In part, it read, “Imagine if you can a tract of land about sixteen miles long and three wide, where every bough is occupied by a dozen nests and a hundred birds, where the air whirs from dawn till dark with ceaseless wings going and coming, where the flights that settle cover square acres with a living carpet, where from 250 to 400 men have for six weeks been engaged in trapping and killing without cessation, and yet not made them appreciably less; imagine fifty square miles of pigeons and that is the scene. As the old birds leave or are destroyed by millions, millions of young ones take the wing, and almost daily armies of reinforcements fly northward from far away Kentucky and Missouri, the beat of whose wings and whose countless numbers obscure the sky and emit a hollow roar as if a tornado or thunderstorm were approaching.”
Lewis Cross of Spring Lake (near Grand Haven) was an accomplished painter who knew passenger pigeons first hand and wanted to preserve the spectacle they presented. His extraordinary works are displayed in various places including the Lakeshore Museum Center in Muskegon; Nature Education Center, Ottawa County Parks, Port Sheldon Township; the Tri-Cities Historical Museum, Grand Haven; and the Grand Rapids Art Museum.
A 4’x5’ oil painting, by Brian K. Wheeler in 1977 and life-size woodcarving, by Mike Ross in 2011 at Chippewa Nature Center in Midland. www.chippewanaturecenter.org
One of only three memorials to the passenger pigeon is located at the Oden State Fish Hatchery on US Hwy 31 North, about six miles north of Petoskey. It is a State of Michigan Historical Marker.
Michigan Locations Known to Have Passenger Pigeon Skins, Mounts, and or Skeletons:
- Alma: Alma College
- Ann Arbor: *University of Michigan Museum
- Battle Creek: *Kingman Museum of Natural History
- Bloomfield Hills: *Cranbrook Institute of Science
- Burton: *For-Mar Nature Preserve and Arboretum — Genesee County Parks and Recreation
- Centreville: *St. Joseph County Historical Society
- Detroit: *Detroit Science Center
- East Lansing: *Michigan State University Museum
Fenner Nature Center - Grand Rapids: *Grand Rapids Public Museum
- Milford: *Kensington Metropark Nature Center
- Muskegon: *Lakeshore Museum Center
- Niles: *Fernwood Nature Center
- Olivet: Olivet College
- Saginaw: Green Point Environmental Learning Center
* If an asterisk appears, at least one passenger pigeon is known to be on display; this list is mainly based on Hahn's Where is That Vanished Bird (1963).
Read Fascinating Historical Accounts of the Passenger Pigeon in Michigan
Wisconsin’s A.W. [Bill] Schorger (1884-1972) spent many years researching the history of the passenger pigeon, and he summarized his findings in his 1955 book, The Passenger Pigeon: Its Natural History and Extinction. At the time of its publication, the book was the most comprehensive account of the species. Schorger did an excellent job summarizing the nearly 10,000 historical records he discovered in libraries and historical societies around the country, but his original research notes contain many additional details.
For the 2014 centennial, Professor Stanley Temple of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has made all Schorger’s handwritten research notes available in digital form. This link will take you to a table that provides details of all the historical records Bill Schorger discovered for Michigan. [Schorger-MI.pdf]
Read Historical Accounts from Schorger's Original Field Notes about the Passenger Pigeon in Michigan
The links below give access to often-firsthand, eyewitness accounts of pigeons, the table includes a cross reference to the exact page in Schorger’s notes where you can read the full text of the account and find a citation of the original source document. These documents will open in their own window. Use the links below to find the page containing the account you’re interested in exploring further:
Schorger pages 1-329
Schorger pages 330-632
Schorger pages 633-959
Schorger pages 960-1242
Schorger pages 1243-1585
Schorger pages 1586-1890
Schorger pages 1891-2232
Schorger pages 2233-2556
(Compiled by Joel Greenberg)
The passenger pigeon was an abundant resident throughout state from late March through September. Bred in all wooded parts of Minnesota, occasionally in large colonies and often as isolated pairs.
Last Records of the Passenger Pigeon:
After 1880, the species declined quickly until 1895 when the last male, nest, and egg were collected in Minneapolis.
Places Likely Named for Passenger Pigeon:
There are at least 13 places in Minnesota with pigeon in the name:
- Pigeon Bay (bay) in Cook County
- Pigeon Point (cape) in Cook County
- Pigeon Falls (falls) in Cook County
- Pigeon River (populated place) in Cook County
- Pigeon River (stream) in Cook County, Itasca County
- Pigeon Dam (dam) in Itasca County
- Pigeon Dam Lake (lake) in Itasca County
- Pigeon River Flowage Game Refuge (park) in Itasca County
- Pigeon River Impoundment (reservoir) in Itasca County
- Pigeon Lake (lake) two in Meeker County and one in St. Louis County
- Pigeon Lake (lake) in Meeker County
Minnesota Highlights:
Passenger pigeon remains have been found at archeological excavations at Farley Village and Little Rapids Dakota Village.
“The Wood Pigeon is nearly the same as ours, and there are such prodigious quantities of them on the banks of the Mississippi, that they will sometimes darken the sun for several minutes.”
- Jonathan Carver (1766) in Thomas Roberts, Birds of Minnesota (1932).
Countless flocks of Wilds Pigeons pervaded the atmosphere of the Red River Valley during the later part of May and early portion of June 1873. We observed them continually during our voyage down the river, and for some days afterward at Pembina, streaming through the air in endless succession of flocks. They generally flew high, far beyond gunshot, but in early morning and just before nightfall often came low enough to afford a shot.”
- Elliott Couses, 1878 (in Roberts).
“I remember well the last Pigeon roost there was in this part fo the country; it must be more than fifty years ago. It is almost inconceivable, but the birds were in such numbers as to obscure the sun where they were in flight, and when they settled on the grain-fields in the spring and summer they destroyed much of the crop. They caused such heavy losses . . . that they were mercilessly destroyed in great numbers.”
- W.J. Mayo, Rochester, 1929 (in Roberts).
The last record for the state, as mentioned above, was the nest, male, and egg taken in June 21, 1895, in Minneapolis. It is, in fact, the last nest and egg known of a wild bird from anywhere. Both the nest and the egg are on display at the Bell Museum at the University of Minnesota.
State Locations known to have Passenger Pigeon Skins, Mounts, and or Skeletons:
- Collegeville: *St. John’s University
- Duluth: University of Minnesota (?)
- Minneapolis: 1) *Bell Museum of the University of Minnesota; and 2) Science Museum of Minnesota
* If an asterisk appears, at least one passenger pigeon is known to be on display; this list is mainly based on Hahn's Where is That Vanished Bird (1963).
Read Fascinating Historical Accounts of the Passenger Pigeon in Minnesota
Wisconsin’s A.W. [Bill] Schorger (1884-1972) spent many years researching the history of the passenger pigeon, and he summarized his findings in his 1955 book, The Passenger Pigeon: Its Natural History and Extinction. At the time of its publication, the book was the most comprehensive account of the species. Schorger did an excellent job summarizing the nearly 10,000 historical records he discovered in libraries and historical societies around the country, but his original research notes contain many additional details.
For the 2014 centennial, Professor Stanley Temple of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has made all Schorger’s handwritten research notes available in digital form. This link will take you to a table that provides details of all the historical records Bill Schorger discovered for Minnesota. [Schorger-MN.pdf]
Read Historical Accounts from Schorger's Original Field Notes about the Passenger Pigeon in Minnesota
The links below give access to often-firsthand, eyewitness accounts of pigeons, the table includes a cross reference to the exact page in Schorger’s notes where you can read the full text of the account and find a citation of the original source document. These documents will open in their own window. Use the links below to find the page containing the account you’re interested in exploring further:
Schorger pages 1-329
Schorger pages 330-632
Schorger pages 633-959
Schorger pages 960-1242
Schorger pages 1243-1585
Schorger pages 1586-1890
Schorger pages 1891-2232
Schorger pages 2233-2556
(Compiled by Bill Whan)
Historian Caleb Atwater observed in 1838 that passenger pigeons still passed through Ohio in huge numbers in the spring and fall, adding that "[f]ormerly the pigeons tarried here all summer, building their nests, and rearing their young, but the country is too well settled for them now; and so, like the trapper for beaver, and the hunter, they are off into the distant forests, where their food is abundant, and where there is none to disturb them in their lawful pursuits." Actually, large nesting colonies survived in a few spots in the state after the middle of the century, even though there were growing numbers of humans who continued to persecute them.
By 1882, Wheaton, born in 1840 and author of Report on the Birds of Ohio, observed it had become "much less abundant and irregular." Less than twenty years later its extinction in the wild was complete. Lawrence Hicks in 1935 summed up its former abundance in “immense numbers in every section of the state and presumably breeding generally, though usually locally and in very large colonies,” citing confirmed large nestings historically in rural Licking, Pickaway, Morrow, Huron, Wayne, Medina, Columbiana, Portage, Trumbull, Ashtabula, and Geauga counties.
Last Records of the Passenger Pigeon:
Still extant is a mounted specimen, now at the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus, collected in Pike County in March 1900. It is the third to the last passenger pigeon shot in the wild and the last young bird. Martha, a pigeon kept at the Cincinnati Zoo until her death in 1914, is considered to have been the last of all her kind.
Ohio Places Likely Named for the Passenger Pigeon:
- Pigeon Knob in Gallia County
- Pigeon Town in Logan County
- Pigeon Run in Stark County
- Pigeon Ridge in Carroll County
- Pigeon Creek in Summit, Stark, Vinton, Jackson, and Gallia counties
- Pigeon Branch in Washington County
- Pigeon Hollow Cemetery in Lawrence County
- Pigeon Point in Belmont County
Ohio Highlights:
Archaeological remains demonstrate that native Ohioans used pigeons as food for centuries prior to the arrival of Europeans.
Early explorers (Zeisberger in the 1770s, Harris 1805) often remarked on the vast gatherings of pigeons they encountered in the forests. There are records of large bald spots persisting in the forest for decades where large nesting colonies had been established.
The capital city, Columbus, was visited by a ninety-mile-long flock that passed over for most of a day in the spring of 1855; such passages remained fairly common in the state in this era, and this one was remarkable mostly for the number of human witnesses involved.
Collectors here and to the east were surprised to find undigested rice in the stomachs of such migrants, which suggested the birds had passed through rice country in the Carolinas and Georgia just the day before, thus averaging around sixty miles per hour in their voyage.
As late as Wheaton’s time (ca. 1882), a dozen living pigeons in the city market could be purchased for as little as five cents, while a pair of Northern Cardinals cost two dollars. Kentucky and Ohio were at an early date the locales for the most spectacular recorded gatherings of pigeons, but with the hewing of the forests and increased local hunting pressure, large concentrations of pigeons were found farther north, in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan after the Civil War and into the 1880s. At one time, an Ohio nest site such as the Bloody Run Swamp in Licking County could justly be called the largest in the state, while sites 300 miles northwest in Michigan were many times more extensive.
Ohio Locations Known to Have Passenger Pigeon Skins, Mounts, or Skeletons:
- Akron: Summit County Historical Society (1)
- Bay Village: Lake Erie Nature and Science Center (1)*
- Bowling Green: Bowling Green State University
- East Liverpool: Beaver Creek Wildlife Education Center (1)*
- Cincinnati: 1) Cincinnati Museum Center (12; three mounts, one egg, the rest skins)* 2) Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens*; 3) Ed Maruska
- Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Natural History (1)*
- Columbus: 1) Ohio State University Museum of Biological Diversity (16); 2) Ohio Historical Society (3)*
- Dayton: Aulwood Audubon Center (1)*
- Dayton: Boonshoft Museum of Discovery (6)*
- Delaware: Ohio Wesleyan University (1)*
- Huron: Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Preserve (2: one juv.)*
- Indian Hill: W. Roger Fry
- Norwalk: Firelands Historical Society (1)*
- Oberlin: Oberlin College (1)
- Oxford: Miami University Museum (1)
- Portsmouth: Portsmouth Public Library (1)*
* If an asterisk appears, at least one passenger pigeon is known to be on display; this list is mainly based on Hahn's Where is That Vanished Bird (1963).
Read Fascinating Historical Accounts of the Passenger Pigeon in Ohio
Wisconsin’s A.W. [Bill] Schorger (1884-1972) spent many years researching the history of the passenger pigeon, and he summarized his findings in his 1955 book, The Passenger Pigeon: Its Natural History and Extinction. At the time of its publication, the book was the most comprehensive account of the species. Schorger did an excellent job summarizing the nearly 10,000 historical records he discovered in libraries and historical societies around the country, but his original research notes contain many additional details.
For the 2014 centennial, Professor Stanley Temple of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has made all Schorger’s handwritten research notes available in digital form. This link will take you to a table that provides details of all the historical records Bill Schorger discovered for Ohio. [Schorger-OH.pdf]
Read Historical Accounts from Schorger's Original Field Notes about the Passenger Pigeon in Ohio
These sources are newly available on the passenger pigeon site (as of January 25, 2014). The links below give access to often-firsthand, eyewitness accounts of pigeons, the table includes a cross reference to the exact page in Schorger’s notes where you can read the full text of the account and find a citation of the original source document. These documents will open in their own window. Use the links below to find the page containing the account you’re interested in exploring further:
Schorger pages 1-329
Schorger pages 330-632
Schorger pages 633-959
Schorger pages 960-1242
Schorger pages 1243-1585
Schorger pages 1586-1890
Schorger pages 1891-2232
Schorger pages 2233-2556
(Compiled by Kyle Bagnall and edited by Joel Greenberg)
Passenger pigeons once nested in enormous numbers throughout Wisconsin and vast flocks coursed overhead during migration. Many written reports exist of nesting areas, roosts, and huge flocks flying throughout the state. The most complete descriptions are those of the largest recorded nesting of passenger pigeons in U.S. history, which occurred in central Wisconsin in 1871.
Last Records of the Passenger Pigeon:
An immature male was shot on September 8, 1896 by C.E. Golder, near Delavan Lake in Walworth County. The specimen was later sent to the Denver Museum of Natural History. Several small flocks were reported in Winnebago County, at Oshkosh, in the fall of 1897. The last confirmed wild passenger pigeon in Wisconsin was shot by James Varney between September 9-15, 1899 near Babcock, Wood County. In his column “Chicago and the West,” published in the September 23, 1899 issue of Forest and Stream, Emerson Hough wrote that the bird was mixed with a flock of Mourning Doves sitting in a tree and was shot by men hunting Prairie Chickens. It was recognized as a young passenger pigeon by Neal Brown, a member of the party.
Places Likely Named for Passenger Pigeon:
There are no fewer than 17 places in Wisconsin with pigeon in the name:
- Pigeon Creek (Grant County)
- Pigeon Creek (Washington County)
- Pigeon Grove (Columbia County)
- Pigeon Falls (Trempealeau County)
- Pigeon Creek (Jackson County)
- Pigeon Creek (Ozaukee County)
- Pigeon Creek (Rusk County)
- Pigeon Island (LaCrosse County)
- Pigeon Lake (Bayfield County)
- Pigeon Lake ( Manitowoc County)
- Pigeon Lake (Waupaca County)
- Pigeon River (Manitowoc County)
- Pigeon River — North Branch (Shawano County)
- Pigeon River — South Branch (Waupaca County)
- Pigeon Run [Stream] (Crawford County)
- Meeme [Pigeon] River (Manitowoc County)
- Meeme [Village and Township] (Manitowoc County)
Wisconsin Highlights:
Natural Bridge State Park, south of Baraboo, comprises 530 acres of oak woodlands, dry prairie, open fields, and a natural sandstone arch serving as its focal point. This out of the way park features one of the oldest inhabited sites known from the Midwest. The wind and water-carved sandstone arch us 25 feet wide and 15 feet high with the top towering 35 feet above ground level. The Raddatz rock shelter at the base of the natural arc is 60 feet wide with a depth of 30 feet and is believed to have been inhabited by Paleo-Indians approximately 11,000 years ago when a glacier occupied nearby territory. Evidence indicates that the shelter was used only periodically at first, perhaps as a hunting or seasonal camp. Later it was inhabited year-round. Passenger pigeon bones have been uncovered here.
“Just as our commander ceased his speech, a bird well worthy to be sweet Peace's chosen emblem, with an arrow's speed, flew over us and alighted, not in a lovely lady's bosom, but on one of the iron rods extended between the smoke pipes, above the hurricane deck, to strengthen them. Was it a snow white dove? That is but a poet's phrase for a tame pigeon – a lumpish ungraceful bird that is much given to domestic bickerings despite its reputation. It was something far prettier – a blue, free, fleet wild pigeon – a thing like Cora, untameable [sic.], and given to wild flights, but of a truly gentle disposition. It had somehow been separated from its fellows, and in crossing the lake since sunrise, even its strong pinions began to flag and so it stopped to rest. John Smith tells me, that birds are frequently found dead far out upon this lake – and that even the passenger pigeon, whose speed exceeds thirty miles the hour, and which often flies a hundred miles to breakfast, sometimes falls exhausted into it and perishes upon its bosom and so becomes a prey for the gigantic trout. This does not often happen – and only when this strong-winged bird is baffled by opposing winds, beaten down by tempests, or lost in murky fogs. Our pigeon was warmly welcomed. We hailed its coming as a good omen: and then, the place it occupied between the pipes was very hot, as was proved by its drooping wings and open bill; but still, so fatigued was the poor wanderer, it would not stir although an editor, pitying its sufferings, would have knocked it with a fishing rod had not Smith interposed…. But our visitor remained admired and unscathed for half an hour, until we neared the shore, and then launched into the air and sought the pleasant green-wood shade.” A traveler writing of his Lake Michigan journey near Green Bay in July, 1847. It appeared in the Western Literary Messenger and provides a rare early case of human kindness toward the species.
The largest recorded nesting of passenger pigeons in U.S. history took place in central Wisconsin in 1871. A conservative estimate of the nesting area was 850 square miles, and population estimates put the number of nesting pigeons at 136 million. Many recorded descriptions of this nesting exist in historic articles, books and other publications. One is by Chief Pokagon (of the Potawatomi) whose descriptions of passenger pigeons are among the best ever penned: ‘Every tree, some of them quite low and scrubby, had from one to fifty nests each. Some of the nests overflow from the oaks to the hemlocks and pine woods. When the pigeon hunters attack the breeding places they sometimes cut the timber from thousands of acres. . . I there counted as high as forty nests in scrub oaks not over twenty-five feet high; in many places I could pick the eggs out of the nests, being not over five or six feet from the ground.”
“We have erected a monument to commemorate the funeral of a species. It symbolizes our sorrow. We grieve because no living man will see again the onrushing phalanx of victorious birds, sweeping a path for spring across the March skies, chasing the defeated winter from all the woods and prairies of Wisconsin. Men still live who, in their youth, remember pigeons. Trees still live who, in their youth, were shaken by a living wind. But a decade hence only the oldest oaks will remember, and at long last only the hills will know. . .
The pigeon was a biological storm. He was the lightning that played between two opposing potentials of intolerable intensity: the fat of the land and the oxygen of the air. Yearly the feathered tempest roared up, down, and across the continent, sucking up the laden fruits of forest and prairie, burning them in a traveling blast of life. Like any other chain reaction, the pigeon could survive no diminution of his own furious intensity. When the pigeoners subtracted from his numbers, and the pioneers chopped gaps in the continuity of his fuel, his flame guttered out with hardly a sputter or even a wisp of smoke.” Aldo Leopold, speaking at the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology’s dedication of a monument to the passenger pigeon on May 11, 1947, Wyalusing State Park.
The twentieth century’s premier passenger pigeon historian was Arlie W. Schorger whose 1955 book, The Passenger Pigeon: Its Natural History and Extinction (first edition of which was published by the U of Wisconsin Press), is an amazing work that tells of the species in meticulous detail. Living in Madison, Schorger spent decades reading every newspaper published in WI before a certain year in his singular effort to document the changing status of the state’s wildlife. The accounts he collected through that project formed the core of the passenger pigeon book but he augmented it with thousands of other works and estimated that all told he used in excess of 10,000 sources. Schorger was both a close friend of Leopold’s and a colleague in the Department of Wildlife Ecology (now the Department of Wildlife and Forest Ecology) at the University of Wisconsin. The department houses memorials to both scholars.
A monument to the last known passenger pigeon in the state exists at Wyalusing State Park near Bagley and the 1871 nesting is commemorated by a historical marker at Black River Falls.
Bud Gussel, of Wisconsin Dells, has a goal to provide a free passenger pigeon poster to every school district in Wisconsin. Since 2008, he has distributed more than 600 to schools and libraries across the state: http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/110893614.html
Wisconsin Locations Known to Have Passenger Pigeon Skins, Mounts, and or Skeletons:
- Bagely: *Wyalusing State Park
- Baraboo: *Baraboo High School
- Beloit: Beloit College
- Cable: *Cable Natural History Museum
- Eau Claire: *University of Wisconsin, James Newman Clark Bird Museum
- Fond du Lac: Fond du Lac Historical Society (will be on display come 2014 if not before)
- Fort Atkinson: *Hoard Historical Museum
- Green Bay: 1. *Neville Public Museum; and 2) Richter Museum of Natural History
- La Crosse: University of Wisconsin
- Madison: 1) *Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin;
- Milwaukee: 1) *Milwaukee Public Museum; 2) University of Wisconsin; 3) *Concordia University
- New London: *New London Public Museum
- Oshkosh: *Oshkosh Public Museum
- Plattsville: University of Wisconsin
- Potosi: Potosi High School
- Racine: *Racine Heritage Museum
- Stevens Point: *University of Wisconsin's Museum of Natural History
- Whitewater: University of Wisconsin
* If an asterisk appears, at least one passenger pigeon is known to be on display; this list is mainly based on Hahn's Where is That Vanished Bird (1963).
Read Fascinating Historical Accounts of the Passenger Pigeon in Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s A.W. [Bill] Schorger (1884-1972) spent many years researching the history of the passenger pigeon, and he summarized his findings in his 1955 book, The Passenger Pigeon: Its Natural History and Extinction. At the time of its publication, the book was the most comprehensive account of the species. Schorger did an excellent job summarizing the nearly 10,000 historical records he discovered in libraries and historical societies around the country, but his original research notes contain many additional details.
For the 2014 centennial, Professor Stanley Temple of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has made all Schorger’s handwritten research notes available in digital form. This link will take you to a table that provides details of all the historical records Bill Schorger discovered for Wisconsin. [Schorger-WI.pdf]
Read Historical Accounts from Schorger's Original Field Notes about the Passenger Pigeon in Wisconsin
The links below give access to often-firsthand, eyewitness accounts of pigeons, the table includes a cross reference to the exact page in Schorger’s notes where you can read the full text of the account and find a citation of the original source document. These documents will open in their own window. Use the links below to find the page containing the account you’re interested in exploring further:
Schorger pages 1-329
Schorger pages 330-632
Schorger pages 633-959
Schorger pages 960-1242
Schorger pages 1243-1585
Schorger pages 1586-1890
Schorger pages 1891-2232
Schorger pages 2233-2556
Wisconsin’s A.W. [Bill] Schorger (1884-1972) spent many years researching the history of the passenger pigeon, and he summarized his findings in his 1955 book, The Passenger Pigeon: Its Natural History and Extinction. His original research notes contain many additional details, and for the 2014 centennial, professor Stanley Temple of the University of Wisconsin-Madison made all Schorger’s handwritten research notes available in digital form. You can access these notes via the links below.
Schorger pages 1-329
Schorger pages 330-632
Schorger pages 633-959
Schorger pages 960-1242
Schorger pages 1243-1585
Schorger pages 1586-1890
Schorger pages 1891-2232
Schorger pages 2233-2556
From Billions To None
Released in 2014, the documentary From Billions to None: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction reveals the compelling story of the unlikely extinction of the passenger pigeon. This award-winning film follows naturalist and author Joel Greenberg, A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction, (Bloomsbury USA, 2014), as well as scientists, artists and teachers that are drawn to this literal teachable moment and its striking relevance to conservation challenges today. The "De-extinction" movement and its plan to bring back the passenger pigeon, is briefly explored. Highlights include breathtaking CGI animation of massive flocks, as well as astonishing aerials captured by remote control quadcopters equipped with GoPro cameras.
From Billions to None garnered a Broadcast Award from the 2014 American Conservation Film Festival; the award is given to films with "compelling conservation issues that educate, motivate and inspire viewers."
You can watch the full documentary below.
A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction was funded in part by: The Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, The Illinois Arts Council Agency, The Rotman Family Charitable Gift Fund
Books for Continued Reading
Explore the published works of Project Passenger Pigeon contributors below.
A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction by Joel Greenberg
In the early nineteenth century 25-40% of North America's birds were passenger pigeons, traveling in flocks so massive as to block out the sun for hours or even days. The down beats of their wings would chill the air beneath and create a thundering roar that would drown out all other sound. Feeding flocks would appear as “a blue wave four or five feet high rolling toward you.”
John James Audubon, impressed by their speed and agility, said a lone passenger pigeon streaking through the forest “passes like a thought.” How prophetic-for although a billion pigeons crossed the skies 80 miles from Toronto in May of 1860, little more than fifty years later passenger pigeons were extinct. The last of the species, Martha, died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo on September 1, 1914.
As naturalist Joel Greenberg relates in gripping detail, the pigeons' propensity to nest, roost, and fly together in vast numbers made them vulnerable to unremitting market and recreational hunting. The spread of railroads and telegraph lines created national markets that allowed the birds to be pursued relentlessly. Passenger pigeons inspired awe in the likes of Audubon, Henry David Thoreau, James Fenimore Cooper, and others, but no serious effort was made to protect the species until it was way too late. Greenberg's beautifully written story of the passenger pigeon provides a cautionary tale of what happens when species and natural resources are not harvested sustainably.
One Came Home by Amy Timberlake
In the town of Placid, Wisconsin, in 1871, Georgie Burkhardt is known for two things: her uncanny aim with a rifle and her habit of speaking her mind plainly.
But when Georgie blurts out something she shouldn't, her older sister Agatha flees, running off with a pack of "pigeoners" trailing the passenger pigeon migration. And when the sheriff returns to town with an unidentifiable body—wearing Agatha's blue-green ball gown—everyone assumes the worst. Except Georgie. Refusing to believe the facts that are laid down (and coffined) before her, Georgie sets out on a journey to find her sister. She will track every last clue and shred of evidence to bring Agatha home. Yet even with resolute determination and her trusty Springfield single-shot, Georgie is not prepared for what she faces on the western frontier.
Passenger Pigeons: Gone Forever by Vic Eichler, PhD
The most abundant bird in North America, once estimated to number 5 billion individuals, is now extinct. The passenger pigeon, which resembled our modern mourning dove, was driven to extinction by senseless slaughter up until the 1860's when their numbers dropped precipitously. In 1831, John James Audubon, the famous painter of birds, described flocks of these birds, estimated at more than 100 miles wide, that blotted out the sun for days. The last individual of this species died alone in her cage at the Cincinnati Zoo on September 1, 1914, and there will be a nationwide effort to commemorate this tragedy during the centennial year 2014. This book discusses the importance of biodiversity on the planet and explores the lessons of the past as we look to the future and face the continued loss of threatened and endangered species of plants and animals around the world.
Species Declining, Threatened, Gone, Saved
Project Passenger Pigeon aimed to tell the little known and remarkable story of the passenger pigeon and its extinction to as wide an audience as possible. But this effort is far more than a history lesson, as heartbreaking and breathtaking as that history is. We must also shine a bright light on the broader challenges of maintaining global biodiversity.
Other species have become extinct and a growing number are in steep decline, but there continue to be success stories as well. In this section you will be able to examine a wide range of cases representing past and likely future species outcomes.
Please note, the material presented here is as it was originally written in 2014 and may not reflect recent changes with a species' status or population.
We depend on plants for everything; now they need our help. By mid-century, the United States may witness the extinction of 25% of its native plant species, with equal or greater losses expected for plant species worldwide. Conservation of wildlife tends to receive more attention than plants. But because all life depends on plants, conserving plants is critical to the survival of all of Earth's biodiversity. If plants go extinct, many other species will follow. Plants are essential components of all ecosystems. Other species depend on them for food and shelter. Plants improve air and water quality, help regulate climate, and control water flow. Yet countless plant species are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, climate change, invasive species, pollution, and more.
Plants do far more for ecosystems and for us than we realize. Our most basic necessities, including food, oxygen, fibers, medicines, and most forms of energy, come from plants and plant processes. As integral members of natural communities, plants regulate processes that improve the quality of air and water, help control climate, recycle nutrients, and limit flooding and soil erosion.
Compared to some animal groups, such as birds and mammals, the number of plant species is poorly known. That's because there are so many plant species—more than 350,000 species known to scientists—and more yet to be discovered.
Human-related activities account for more than 80% of the threats to plant diversity. Among the greatest of these is habitat loss and degradation. Plant habitat is shrinking, being destroyed by residential and commercial development, tourism, logging, mining, and agriculture. Climate change is becoming an increasingly serious threat to plants as well. Invasive species also imperil plant communities. Invasive species are those that, when introduced to an area where they don't naturally occur, spread out-of-control and overrun entire areas. Pollution and illegal collecting also are among factors endangering plant species.
The best strategy to conserve plants is to protect them in their habitats. This makes it essential to protect natural environments, and manage protected areas to benefit species diversity. Many conservation organizations also work to restore degraded habitats to health and improve native species diversity.
Botanic gardens—beyond protecting species in live collections and seed banks—promote plant conservation in many ways. Botanic Gardens Conservation International, with more than 100 members among botanic gardens and conservation organizations in the United States alone, works to implement the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) to halt the loss of plant diversity around the world. GSPC is a program of the United Nation's Convention on Biological Diversity. Botanic gardens also conduct programs in natural environments. Garden scientists monitor and study wild plant populations to help policy makers and land managers conserve them more effectively.
You can get involved in plant conservation activities as a community scientist. For example, the Chicago Botanic Garden's Plants of Concern program engages a network of volunteers, trained by scientists, to monitor the health of 185 endangered, threatened, or rare plant species in the Chicago area. Data are analyzed to identify relationships between plant population health and environmental changes, and to help inform land management decisions.
For more information on plant conservation, see:
Chicago Botanic Garden
Botanic Garden Conservation International
Contributed by Kay Havens, Medard and Elizabeth Welch Director, Division of Plant Science and Conservation and Senior Scientist, Chicago Botanic Garden; Andrea Kramer, Conservation Scientist, Ecological Genetics and Executive Director, Botanic Gardens Conservation International U.S. at Chicago Botanic Garden; and Francie Muraski-Stotz, freelance writer.
Listed as vulnerable in the Red List of Threatened Species. Some good news: a growing number of restaurants worldwide are removing shark fin from their menus.
In 2002, the species was listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Appendix II includes species in which trade must be controlled to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival. Although this is a positive step, CITES designation does not carry the power of law, and enforcement is left to the individual member countries. Those countries that participate actively in the shark fin trade do not recognize the CITES designation. There are, however, reasons to be positive with respect to shark conservation. In 2006, Taiwan outlawed whale shark fishing, Palau declared its waters a shark sanctuary in 2009, President Obama signed the Shark Conservation Act in 2011, prohibiting the movement of shark fin through US ports, and a growing number of restaurants worldwide are removing shark fin from their menus.
Threats: Rare attacks on whale sharks have been reported from orcas and white sharks, but the whale shark has no significant natural predator other than man. While whale sharks are protected in many parts of their range, they are fished legally and illegally in some countries. Whale sharks are hunted for the oil from their livers, which is used to waterproof boats, and for their meat, which is eaten in many parts of Asia. In addition, whale sharks increasingly fall victim to the practice of "finning", in which the fin of a live shark is sliced off and the animal is thrown overboard to die. Shark fin has long been considered a delicacy in many parts of the world, where it is most commonly served as shark fin soup. The fins of larger sharks are extremely valuable, and together with the amount of meat that can be taken from a single animal, this makes them a premium species for fishermen in developing countries.
Conservation status: The conservation status of whale shark populations is unknown. While large feeding aggregations suggest healthy numbers of animals, the composition of these aggregations with nearly all subadult sharks leaves the status of breeding animals undetermined. Current evidence indicates that whale sharks are declining in number, with well-studied aggregations hosting fewer and smaller sharks over the past 10 years. This trend indicates a loss of reproductive age animals from the population, and a shift to smaller non-breeding individuals. Whale sharks’ late maturity makes them slow to recover from any breeding depression, and therefore successful attempts to mitigate this downward trend must begin while numbers of mature sharks are still high.
Background
The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is the largest living fish and the largest shark. Whale sharks have broad flattened heads, enormous mouths, and an elongated body ending in a caudal fin that can be 5 feet tall in an adult animal. Whale sharks are blue-gray in color, with a pattern of spots and stripes that is unique to each animal. Whale sharks as long as 16 meters have been reported, though the animals most commonly seen are between 5 and 8 meters in length. They are found in tropical and warm temperate waters around the globe, and are an epipelagic species, meaning they favor the open ocean. It is believed that whale sharks are highly migratory, they may cross oceans, and even move between ocean basins. Whale shark lifespan may approach that of a human, possibly reaching 60-100 years. An animal this large does not escape notice, and while whale sharks were described to science only in 1828, local cultures throughout their range had bestowed names on the creatures, and incorporated them into folk tales and legends. In Mexico the whale shark is called “tiburon balena”, shark-whale, or more colloquially “Domino” for their pattern of spots and stripes. In India, the whale shark is called “Vhali”, which means “dear one” in Gujarati. Filipinos call the animal “butanding”, which translates to “gentle giant” in Tagalog. In Kenya, whale sharks are called Papa Shillingi, which means “covered in shillings.” This name comes from a story that says that when god made the whale shark he was so pleased with its beauty that he threw shillings, silver coins, onto its back, giving it a pattern of bright spots.
Migration: The need to find sources of plankton rich enough to sustain their massive size means whale sharks must travel to feed. As plankton sources may be widely dispersed in the ocean, whale sharks are believed to migrate long distances to take advantage of feeding opportunities. When a large food source does occur, the normally solitary whale sharks may show up in huge numbers. Such aggregations occur yearly in the coastal waters of Australia, Mozambique, India, Seychelles, Philippines, and Mexico, as well as off the southern US coast. In 2009, one aggregation along the Mexican coast numbered more than 400 animals. Interestingly, many of the food sources that draw whale sharks recur on a yearly basis, and the whale sharks show up reliably to exploit them. How the sharks know to be at a particular place at a particular time remains unclear. Whale sharks may also migrate to breed. Genetic analysis of whale shark populations from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, has shown little difference between these animals. This data indicates an evolutionary history of migration, and interbreeding, among distant groups of whale sharks.
Reproduction: Sexual maturity in male sharks can be determined by the maturation of the claspers, paired sexual organs located between the pelvic fins. Mature claspers are rarely seen on male whale sharks of less than 9 meters in length, and an animal of this size is likely 25-30 years old. The feeding aggregations composed of primarily 5-8 meter sharks therefore cannot be breeding populations, but rather are juvenile and subadult gatherings. The habitat of mature adult whale sharks remains unknown. Female sexual maturity is less well understood than males, but it is likely that breeding capability is reached at about the same age. Beyond these few facts, little is known about where adult whale sharks are found, where males and females meet to breed, or where the females deliver their pups. Whale shark mating has never been observed, nor has a female been seen giving birth. Whale shark embryonic development is ovoviviparous, the young develop in egg cases within the uteri of the female, but prior to birth they hatch and complete their development free-swimming within the mother. Only one pregnant female whale shark has ever been scientifically described, an animal caught in a fishery in Taiwan in 1995. This remarkable female carried more than 300 embryos in her uteri, in a range of ages from small sharks still in egg cases to near-term pups ready to be born.
Jennifer Schmidt is a developmental biologist at the University of Illinois-Chicago who works with creatures as disparate as mice and whale sharks.
Listed as Vulnerable on the Red List of Threatened Species
The Northern Bald Ibis consists of two populations, a western group that inhabits Morocco and Algeria is non-migratory and an eastern group that inhabited Syria and Turkey was a long distant migrant. A population that was in the thousands as late as the mid-1900s, the eastern group declined to the point where it was considered extinct. But seven birds were discovered nesting in Syria in 2002. After some initial success, conservation efforts floundered over politics and war.
Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita was a listed as early as 1994 as a Critically Endangered species by the IUCN Red List. During the September 2012 IUCN World Conservation Congress in South Korea, it was listed among the 100 most endangered animal species of the planet.
This bird used to occur in central Europe and around the Mediterranean sea until 400-500 years ago. Since then a slow and inexorable decline has wiped out the species from Europe. The Northern Bald Ibis at a certain point separated in two subpopulations: a western and resident one occurring in Algeria and Morocco and a long range migratory one breeding in Syria and Turkey.
The latter was a unique and charismatic animal. In addition to being fully migratory, unlike the western population, its awe-inspiring black flocks, in formation over the desert horizon, were contemplated with wonder by the successions of ancient civilizations that have risen and fallen in the Middle East over the millennia.
The handful of ibises still breeding in Palmyra, Syria are the last known living descendants of those revered by the ancient Egyptians who depicted them on hieroglyphs from 4500 years ago. These were the legendary birds mentioned in the Old Testament as "the fertility messenger" released by Noah from the Arc.
The eastern ibis population still consisted of thousands of pairs until the mid 1900s. Similarly to the saga of the passenger pigeon, few decades were sufficient to wipe out this bird from the entire Middle East: the species was declared as extinct from the Middle East in the late 1980s, due to DDT use in agriculture and direct persecution (at breeding grounds and during migration).
In fact, the last known wild colony, breeding at Birecik in the southern Anatolia (Turkey), was declared extinct from the wild in 1989. And in Syria the species was believed to have become extinct around 1930s. But it was an “early funeral.” In 2002 a relict breeding colony, counting 7 individuals, were discovered in the middle of the Syrian desert raising the hopes to rescue the population.
Enthusiasm ran high during the first years of conservation efforts despite the lack of funds for the conservation of single species; the colony was confirmed to be a long-range migrant spending half of the year in unknown territories; the Middle East/East Africa socio-political context is not an ideal one for focusing on nature conservation.
The fact is that only in the US has a long-range migratory bird species been successfully rescued starting from few individuals. The Whooping Crane, during the 1950-70s, was saved by establishing a solid partnership between Government agencies and the civil society and thanks to investing sound funding.
Despite these constraints during the first three years (2002-2004) an Ibis Protected Area and a successful protection program during breeding time were established (14 juveniles successfully fledged in 3 years). Community members, including government staff, local hunters, and Beduooin pastoralists, were trained to take care of breeding birds and to become the first rangers and eco-guides in the country. The idea of ecotourism in the Palmyra desert was introduced and successfully promoted for the first time, steering away energies from the locally popular practice of guiding gulf poachers.
Then the project changed management and got swamped in the politics of international conservation NGOs. Despite these additional constraints, a handful of passionate experts and practitioners (Syrians and foreigners), the team that emerged during the first years, continued the efforts in the field. The support of the Syrian First Lady was instrumental in the process in order to overcome the continuous bureaucratic impasses and corruption obstacles.
In these harsh conditions, stunning results were achieved: the migratory route and wintering grounds were discovered, key threats along the migratory route were identified, and a supplementation method was successfully tested.
Unfortunately, all this was achieved too slowly compared to the urgency. Birds meanwhile had decreased to 3 adult individuals in 2011 and that same year the violence of civil war erupted in Syria. The highest threat for the survival of this colony, the uncontrolled hunting along the migratory route along western Arabia, cannot be tackled due to unsupportive political conditions and ineffectiveness of conservation NGOs.
Most likely the charismatic eastern population of NBI is becoming extinct in these years, in the total indifference of public opinion and conservation community. A conservation chance was missed due to an intricate and complex array of reasons.
Dr. Gianluca Serra is an ecologist and naturalist who has worked on a variety of conservation issues throughout the world most particularly in the Middle East, Africa, and Italy. From 2002-2010 he was a leader in the effort to protect the eastern population of Bald Ibis.
15 Species: 11 Threatened or Endangered
Of the world’s 15 species of cranes, 11 are considered threatened or endangered. Among these, the rarest crane is the whooping crane (Grus americana) found only in North America. The current population stands at approximately 600 individuals including both wild and captive birds. Water is the most pressing issue for the population nesting in Canada and wintering along the Gulf Coast of Texas. The most abundant species is the sandhill (G. canadensis) crane, another North American native. This is a species of least concern with numbers estimated between 650 and 800,000 individuals. But even this adaptive bird faces challenges as three non-migratory subspecies, Florida, Cuban and Mississippi sandhill cranes, are considered endangered.
African, non-migratory species include the grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum), black crowned crane (B. pavonina), blue crane (Anthropoides paradisea) and wattled crane (Bugeranus carunculata). All four of these species face threats from power line collisions, ecosystem loss and degradation. In addition, the two populations of crowned cranes face increasing pressure from the illegal pet trade, which has caused an 80% decline in the wild population throughout their range since the 1990s. Breeding success of the wattled crane has been impacted by the hydroelectric dams on rivers which feed the floodplains where they nest. Disruption of the natural flood cycles compromises the ability of this species to nest at peak flood stage and find needed food for their chicks as the flood waters recede. Blue cranes in South Africa are challenged by emerging mining interests and illegal trade.
Australia is home to the Brolga (G. rubicunda), whose population is currently considered stable.
Europe and Asia provide homes to the remaining eight species of cranes, all belonging to the genus Grus with the exception of Anthropoides virgo, the demoiselle crane. The third most populist species is the smallest of all the cranes, standing barely 3 feet tall. This demure crane migrates through the Himalayas and over countries where it is threatened by unregulated hunting. The Eurasian crane (G. grus) is a species of least concern with population estimates second only to the sandhill cranes of North America. Now numbering around 420,000, this species faces challenges from global climate change and light pollution—both thought to affect seasonal migration patterns. Red-crowned (G. japonensis), white-naped (G. vipio), black-necked (G. nigricollis), and hooded (G. monacha) cranes are primarily threatened by habitat loss either through conversion to agricultural use or development. The Siberian crane (G. leucogeranos) is considered the most critically endangered of all the species. This highly aquatic species is threatened by global climate change and loss of safe places to nest, winter and find respite during the longest migration of all the cranes. Threats also arise from agricultural development, wetland drainage, oil exploration, hunting, and water development projects. G. antigone, the Sarus Crane, is a non-migratory species found in India and Vietnam. The survival of this species depends on the continued value of the wetland ecosystems to communities within the Sarus’ range.
Darcy Love is the Visitor Program Manager at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin. All of the world’s 15 crane species can be observed here.
One Million Bats Felled by a Possible Human-Caused Fungus
Dr. DeeAnn Reeder, Assistant Professor of Biology from Bucknell College, is a leading researcher of bat immune systems and is studying a deadly fungus called white nose syndrome (because of the white powder that appears on afflicted bat’s noses). Dr. Reeder explains that one million bats—the number already felled by the fungus—consume some 700 tons of insects on an annual basis. A recent Science study estimated that bats provide more than $3.7 billion in pest-control services to U.S. agriculture every year. That same study also predicted that the most common bat species, the little brown bat, might become extinct in the Eastern U.S. by 2028. “Within our lifetimes,” says Dr. Marianne Susan Moore, one of Reeder’s associates, “never has there been such a rapid and massive decline in a population of wild animals as a result of disease.” The late Thomas Kunz, Professor of Biology at Boston University and a leading white nose syndrome researcher, wrote, “I think you have to go back to the 1800s, to the loss of the passenger pigeon, to find something similar. And then, we didn’t know what we were doing.”
Background
Today in caves across the east and parts of the Midwest, human activity might be contributing to the demise of bats. White nose syndrome has spread to 19 states and 4 Canadian provinces, and is estimated to have killed over one million bats. Somehow a deadly fungus was introduced into bat habitats; one theory is an American spelunker unwittingly brought it from European caves via contaminated equipment. European bats have a resistance to the disease, the theory goes, but North American bats, do not. By studying the endocrine system of normal and diseased bats, Dr. Reeder and her team found that white-nose syndrome affects bats' hibernation, causing them to starve to death. One theory is that bats in cooler temperatures might have higher survival rates. Humans could alter temperatures in some mines, by changing the airflow into entrances. Conservationists in Tennessee are planning to construct an artificial cave and keep it fungus free; in New Hampshire, biologists are studying bats hibernating in World War II-era bunkers, hoping the conditions are conducive to survival.
Passenger pigeons and bats are linked in ways other than having abundant populations that rapidly crashed. Another scientist is trying to help Dr. Reeder through the study of ancient DNA. Dr. Rob Fleischer of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and a group of colleagues recently extracted passenger pigeon DNA to study the relationship of passenger pigeons to other pigeons. Fleischer is now planning to study the genes of long dead bats to see if he can find signs of pathogens similar to white nose syndrome..
“On my worst days, I feel like we’re working our tails off just to document an extinction,” says Reeder. “But somehow in really teasing apart all of this. . . we may find something really important. . . that might help.” Bats are hunted by birds of prey and snakes. Their guano is an integral element of cave ecosystems. And their absence would wreak havoc in agricultural production. As a strand within the web of life, they contribute to the health of the whole. And we are part of that web.
Compiled by David Mrazek, of Waubansee Productions. He is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who is directing and co-writing, From Billions to None, as a component of Project Passenger Pigeon. This material will be part of the treatment for the film.
70% of No. America's Mussels Extinct or Endangered
The freshwater mussel Epioblasma triquetra, commonly known as the “Snuffbox”, is a member of the most endangered animal group in the world. Seventy-percent of North America’s freshwater mussels (referred to as “Unionids”) are already extinct or endangered. The genus Epioblasma used to consist of 25 distinct species, but 14 of those are now extinct. The remaining 11 species are either threatened with extinction or so poorly studied that their status is unknown.
Background
What is happening to our freshwater mussels, which were once so common they were able to support a thriving button industry, and served as an important food source for people? Unfortunately for this group, the majority need clean water with little silt load. Logging, river impoundments, agricultural run-off, shoreline development and other disturbances have largely eliminated the clean, swift-flowing currents that the Snuffbox and other freshwater mussels rely on.
The Snuffbox has a large range, from the Ohio River Valley west to the Mississippi and north to Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario. But it is endangered throughout its range, occupying a spot on the endangered species lists not only federally but in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Canada.
This small (2.5 inches), colorful (yellowish with dark rays and blotches) mussel has a fascinating lifestyle. Like all members of its genus, it uses a host fish to “grow” the larval glochidia. The glochidia reside in the gills of the fish, not feeding on the host but simply using it as relatively safe transport until the larva reaches maturity, when it drops to the river bottom and begins its life as an adult. In the case of the Snuffbox, the host fish is the Common Logperch, a small fish that is well known for using its snout to flip rocks and mussels in search of invertebrate food. But that rock flipping behavior makes them a perfect target for the female Snuffbox. She pokes a colorful, enlarged mantle out of her slightly opened shell, luring the Logperch in for a closer inspection. A mere 1/15 of a second elapses from the moment the fish touches the mantle until the mussel is clasped firmly over the fish’s mouth, pumping the glochidia into the mouth and gills of the host. Not exactly a mutually-agreed upon “host” situation!
The Snuffbox is currently the focus of several surveys and genetic studies designed to discover and enhance existing populations through conservation and reintroductions into appropriate rivers.
Prepared by Dr. David Zanatta, Central Michigan University. For more information on this research, please visit the homepage of Dr. David Zanatta at: http://www.cst.cmich.edu/users/zanat1d/dave_research.html.
Serves an Important Role in Rodent Control
As historical accounts attest, the massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus) is a species was once common throughout out its range but human activity has reduced populations to the point that it is on many state endangered lists and is being monitored by the US Fish and Wildlife Service for possible future listing on the federal level. It is also listed as threatened in Canada and Ontario, the only province that harbors the species. Making things more difficult for conservationists, the massasauga is one of the most difficult of snakes to see.
Massasaugas play an important role in the ecosystem by feeding on mice, voles, and shrews, thus keeping the rodent population under control. Today we continue to learn more on how each individual part of our precious ecosystem is needed for the entire system to work properly.
Background
The Eastern Massasauga is the most northern rattlesnake in North America. It has a long thing range from Ontario and New York on the northeast to northern Tamaulipas on the southwest with some isolated populations in other parts of Mexico. But because the massasauga is shy and secretive, most people will never see one in the wild. It prefers to hide under brush and thick grasses, and retreats quickly to a sheltered area if spotted in the open. The term, “massasauga” literally translates to “great river mouth,” for the typical, wet habitats that most will find this snake. Though a few will be found moving to and from more upland sites, the majority are in wetland habitats, particularly wet seeps and meadows, fens, and alongside marshes and swamps. All of these areas provide for its slang name, the “swamp rattler.”
When one does find a massasauga, the snake’s pattern can be quite recognizable from other snakes. The body is light to medium brown, with darker brown or black irregular splotches down its entire backside. The traditional pit viper, triangular head is noticeable in most cases, and a close up look also reveals the cat-like, vertical slit iris. Understandably, most will never get close enough to see this. By far its most known feature is the accumulation of beads at the end of the tail, which are added upon each time the snake sheds. These beads collectively become the rattle that the snake uses as a distraction technique for both predators and prey.
Within the Chicago region, most folks will never encounter this small snake. However, like other venomous snakes, the bite is toxic, but injections are only done through small fangs. Unlike one hundred years ago, almost all snakebite victims survive, provided they receive prompt medical attention. Human fatalities from massasauga bites are rare. Knowing the massasauga and its identification marks is important for any outdoors hiker with an interest in herpetology, the study of reptiles.
If you get a lucky chance to see a massasauga, enjoy the observation, from a safe distance.
Prepared by Brad Bumgardner, Naturalist at the Indiana Dunes State Park, Chesterton, Indiana.
Background
The interior least tern is the smallest of the North American terns and has been listed as an endangered species since June 27, 1985. These small shorebirds average 8-10 inches in length with a wingspan of 20 inches. Descriptive identifiers include a black crowned head with a snowy white underside and forehead. As shorebirds, the Interior Least Tern hover over, or dive into, standing or flowing water in order to catch small fish. Interior least terns do not breed until they are 2-3 years old. Typically, these birds breed in late summer between June and August. Their preferred habitat is barren to sparsely vegetated sand bars alongside rivers, or sand and gravel pits. They prefer open habitats and breed in isolated areas along the Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Red, and Rio Grande Rivers. After migrating, this species winters in coastal areas in Central and South America.
Threats
Natural and anthropogenic factors have threatened the habitat of interior least terns. This species prefers to live around wide river channels with sandbars, which are naturally created as sediment is deposited through river flow. The creations of dams and reservoirs and changes in river patterns and water flow have severely impacted suitable areas for Interior Least Tern habitat and breeding ground. Additional threats include nest disturbances by human recreational activities in rivers and along sandbars.
How We Are Helping
At Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary a partnership has been created to help the interior least tern population. The US Army Corps of Engineers, the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center, and The Audubon Center at Riverlands work together to support the interior least tern species in two ways: construction of a floating barge tern nesting habitat and educational awareness.
The US Army Corps of Engineers created a floating barge habitat for the interior least terns in Ellis Bay (located within the Mississippi River) to provide ideal nesting conditions, create a potential sighting tool for future permanent habitat locations, and restore sandbar habitat to the stretch of the Mississippi River. For construction, they used two dredge pontoon barges and altered them to hold 5 feet of sand/gravel mix. They anchored the barges and attract birds with call boxes and decoys. This season, the floating habitat has been considered a success with 20 adults, 23 hatchlings, and 5 eggs remaining during the last count (updated 7/9/2012).
This year, a group of local high school students took a particular interest in the interior least terns through the RiverVision Leadership Project (supported by The Audubon Center at Riverlands). Participants learned about the endangered status of the interior least terns and visited Riverlands to help prepare the Floating Interior Least tern Habitat Barge. They also created public service announcements (YouTube videos, art work, books, short stories, songs, and a replica of the barge) for their school and community to raise awareness about the interior least tern and its endangered status.
Matthew Magoc has had a lifelong interest in nature and currently serves as Environmental Education Specialist at The Audubon Center at Riverlands in West Alton, MO. The Center is an excellent location from which to observe the terns in summer.
Facing a current conservation crisis of unprecedented declines and extinctions
Of more than 6,300 known species of amphibians, more than 30% are threatened with extinction according to the Red List standards of IUCN, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Amphibians, a class of animals that includes frogs, toads, salamanders, and caecilians, are under threat from multiple factors. But of most urgent concern is the fungal disease, chytridiomycosis, which has caused rapid population declines in many species, and extinctions of several. Because of their sensitivity to environmental change, amphibians are “nature’s indicators.” Their decline serves as a warning that many environments are being degraded.
Background
As both predators and prey, amphibians are vital links in food webs and play critical roles in many ecosystems, including temperate and tropical forests. Indeed, the biomass of amphibians is the greatest of all organisms in ecosystems such as the deciduous forests of the northeastern United States. Their life histories make many integral members of both aquatic and terrestrial environments. Amphibians also control insects, a function vital for worldwide agricultural success, as well as minimizing insect-borne diseases, such as malaria.
In addition to chytridiomycosis, amphibian species are at risk of extinction due to many factors, including habitat loss and degradation, chemical pollutants, unregulated trade, introduced species, and climate change. From one or more of these causes, 165 amphibian species are believed to have gone extinct since 1970; including 39 known to be extinct, or that survive only in captivity, and 130 that have not been found in recent years.
While habitat loss is the greatest threat to amphibians, the chytrid fungus can decimate populations very rapidly, sometimes over the course of only a few weeks. The IUCN has called this “ ... the worst infectious disease ever recorded among vertebrates in terms of the number of species impacted, and its propensity to drive them to extinction.”
In 2005, an Amphibian Conservation Summit, with participants from many countries and institutions, was held in Washington DC. Academic researchers, conservation NGOs, zoos and aquariums, IUCN, and others joined together to create an Amphibian Conservation Action Plan (ACAP). This plan includes captive breeding programs, the only solution available to save some species at this time.
The latter effort, recognized as the Amphibian Ark (AArk), is focused on ensuring the global survival of amphibians, focusing on those that cannot currently be safeguarded in nature. AArk aims to develop captive, survival assurance populations of amphibian species at imminent risk of extinction, with the ultimate goal being return of these species to the wild. The immediate goal is to build the capacity, and facilities, for countries around the world to care for and save their own amphibian species.
The overall effort to implement the ACAP is now being facilitated and coordinated by the Amphibian Survival Alliance, with the assistance of the Amphibian Specialist Group of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission.
One way anyone can help is to purchase only captive-bred amphibians from reliable and ethical sources. Unregulated commercial trade has contributed to the worldwide spread of the chytrid fungus. In addition, never release pet amphibians back into the wild. This applies even to native species collected locally. Releasing pets can introduce parasites and diseases into wild populations, with potentially disastrous results.
Learn more about how the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum of the Chicago Academy of Sciences is working with amphibian species. Learn more about our conservation work with wood frogs. Or find out how you can get involved with the Calling Frog Survey as a community scientist here.
To further explore amphibian conservation, see http://amphibiansurvivalalliance.org
For more information about chytridiomycosis and efforts to save amphibian species through captive colonies, see http://www.amphibianark.org
For updates on amphibians in general, see: http://amphibiaweb.org
Contributed by George B. Rabb, PhD, and Francie Stotz. Dr. Rabb has affiliations with conservation organizations worldwide. Most notably, he is past chairman (1989-1996) of the Species Survival Commission of IUCN, which he helped build into the world’s largest species conservation network. He founded its Declining Amphibian Population Task Force, and subsequently helped establish the Amphibian Survival Alliance. Francie Stotz developed exhibits at the Field Museum for 16 years. Currently she works as an assistant to Dr. Rabb, and writes on a free-lance basis.
Content on this page was originally published to PassengerPigeon.org by Jason Weckstein and Joel Greenberg. Jason Weckstein is an ornithologist at the Field Museum who specializes in bird parasites. Joel Greenberg, affiliated with the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum of the Chicago Academy of Sciences and the Field Museum, is an author who is active in Project Passenger Pigeon.