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This beautiful North American pigeon was hunted on a massive scale after the arrival of Europeans, particularly in the 19th century. It was an abundant species, darkening skies as millions of birds passed over. As noted by Audubon; "The air was literally filled with Pigeons; the light of noon-day was obscured as by an eclipse.." The hunting happened on a horrifically massive and unsustainable scale, with tens of thousands of birds killed at a time. Competitions were held with competitors trying to shoot down as many birds as possible in a passing flock. The pigeon was considered so numerous that 30,000 birds had to be killed to claim the prize in one competition.
By the mid 19th century, the population decline was noticeable and various ineffective laws were enacted to help reverse the decline. However, there was much opposition to protection. A select committee of the Senate dismissed that the species could be destroyed because it was so prolific. Through a combination of massive habitat loss and hunting, within 20 years, the species was extinct in the wild and the last known iconic, captive bird named "Martha" died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1918.
Passenger pigeon shoot by Smith Bennett[2] [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Just like the Great Auk, there are discussions about de-extinction, using DNA that could be edited in to Band-tailed Pigeon genes. When there is so much pressure on resources for existing species, will a hybrid Passenger Pigeon reintroduced in to the eco-system do anything more than ease some of our collective guilt and couldn't resources be better spent trying to preserve what we have and prevent any number of other north American bird species that are on the brink of extinction?
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