 PASSENGER PIGEON (Ectopistes migratorius) The Passenger Pigeon was one of the most abundant bird species on earth not long ago. Before their extermination, a single flock of passenger pigeons could have two billion birds or more, and there were many flocks in the United States. They were driven to extinction by uncontrolled commercial hunting for food. The pigeons' migration and nesting made them easy to harvest in large numbers. By 1850, several thousand people were employed in the passenger pigeon industry. In New York, one operation alone processed 18,000 pigeons a day in 1855. In 1914 the last Passenger Pigeon died at the Cincinnati Zoo. Scan from Audubon's Birds of America Plate 62 |