The demise of the Passenger Pigeon was assisted, or at least hastened,
by its own social needs. Apparently they did not reproduce as
successfully in smaller flocks
Eric Jeffrey
Falls Church, VA
USA
-----Original Message-----
From: Ricki Coughlan <>
To: Cas and LISA Liber (& family) <>; birding
aus <>
Sent: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 09:06:06 +1100
Subject: Vanishing House Sparrow wrap-up
The passenger Pigeon is a slightly different case to that of the
House Sparrow. However the Passenger Pigeon suffered from changes to
its habitat as well as shooting. It is estimated that there was once 5
billion of these birds which would fly in flocks so vast that they
would block out the sun for hours as they passed. Their main food
source came from trees like Acorns, Chestnuts and Beechnuts. The female
would lay only one egg per year. for the first couple of centuries of
european occupation, shooting, clubbing and netting took place, but the
population was not yet large enough to have a tell-tale effect. Then
came the railways. . .
Between 1860 and 1870 the shooting of these birds was being carried
out to such a degree that several millions of carcasses of these birds
were being sent from the frontier states to the east for the meat
market every week! Meanwhile, the great Acorn, Chestnut and Beech
forests of the north were chopped down for timber and to make way for
farmland and growing cities. It was all totally unsustainable. The last
wild bird seen was in Ohio in 1900. The last captive bird died in 1914.
It's a heartbreaking story of great ignorance and stupidity and you
have to ask how could such a mentality exist. You might even breathe a
sigh of relief and say "Thank God, we've changed". Sadly, I reckon we
haven't changed one bit.
Ricki
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