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Bird lore (1913) (14562557107).jpg

Identifier: birdlore151913nati (find matches)
Title: Bird lore
Year: 1899 (1890s)
Authors: National Committee of the Audubon Societies of America National Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals National Audubon Society
Subjects: Birds Birds Ornithology
Publisher: New York City : Macmillan Co.
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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Text Appearing Before Image:
nce an actual study of the Passenger Pigeon in the field is no longerpossible, information concerning its distribution and habits must be soughtfor in the records of former generations, and obtained from those yet livingwho knew the bird in its prime. Imperfect as this material is and difficult toprocure, the recent revival of interest in its tragic fate has brought to lightsufficient data to trace the life history of the race, and to fathom the causeswhich brought about its sudden and mysterious disappearance from the worldof the living. The habitat of the Pigeon, embracing as it did the vast native forest ofeastern North America, offered the bird a choice of food and residence, definiteregions thereof being occupied in proper season and in regular rotation. Eventhe fruits of the lowly herbs contributed to its bill of fare, and the handsomepoke-weed is locally known as Pigeon berry at the present day. But thebulk of its food consisted of the acorns of the numerous species of oak, the
Text Appearing After Image:
PASSENGER PIGEON, ADULT FEMALENote the characteristically erect pose (79) 80 Bird - Lore seeds of beech, chestnut, maple, elm, and other hardwoods, of pine and hem-lock, and of the fruits and berries of bushes and shrubs. Angleworms, snails,caterpillars, and soft-bodied insects, such as grasshoppers, helped to vary thevegetarian diet. From the frequent mineral springs and licks the bird grati-fied its craving for salt, a condiment eagerly sought by all grain feeders. The winter range of the bird comprised the territory south of Mason andDixons line, a land well stocked with its chief food supply during the inclementseasons. In one of these natural granaries the flocks would settle down andforage until the mast within a radius of two hundred miles and over had beenconsumed. While feeding in concert, the rear ranks successively rose and,passing over the whole flock, alighted in front, giving every bird an equalchance. Like an enormous wheel in slow motion, the birds moved through thewoo

Note About Images
Photograph of a female Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) in captivity from the year 1898.

Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.

Map-Ectopistes-migratorius.png
Författare/Upphovsman: Valérie Chansigaud, Licens: CC BY-SA 1.0
Former range of the now extinct Passenger Pigeon (E. migratorius)

Ectopistes migratorius (passenger pigeon).jpg
Författare/Upphovsman: James St. John, Licens: CC BY 2.0

Ectopistes migratorius (Linnaeus, 1766) - passenger pigeon (extinct) (mount, public display, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Ilinois, USA).

The story of the passenger pigeon is famous as an example of the idiotic destructive power of modern man ("Homo stupidus") & human overpopulation. The passenger pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius, was at one time the # 1 most abundant bird in North America, and likely the # 1 most abundant bird on Earth. The species became extinct about 100 years ago. The last known individual was a captive bird held at the Cincinnati Zoo. It died at 1 PM on 1 September 1914. It is the only species whose extinction timing is very well known. Ectopistes migratorius occupied the central & eastern portions of temperate North America. It was driven to extinction by professional hunters (the birds were destined for food markets - American Indians also killed these birds as a source of food) and clear-cutting of forests. Passenger pigeon flocks were famously huge - they darkened skies and took hours to fly by. Their droppings fell like snow. Individual flocks were estimated to have contained more than three billion birds. Flock density was so high that when two flocks flying in opposite directions collided, numerous stunned birds fell to the ground.

Passenger pigeons nested in huge colonies, occupying hundreds of square miles of forests. Single trees could have hundreds of nests. Tree branches were seen to break from the weight of all the perching birds. Late 1800s hunters targeted the nesting colony areas. Oddly, passenger pigeons couldn’t nest alone or in small colonies. With the destruction of the nesting colonies, the species couldn’t make a comeback. The passenger pigeon is the only species in the pigeon/dove family driven to extinction by gun nerds. However, several other birds in this family, usually island species, have gone also extinct due to other human factors.

The Lesson? Natural resources can run out. (think oil as well)

Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Aves, Columbiformes, Columbidae

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Birds are small to large, warm-blooded, egg-laying, feathered, bipedal vertebrates capable of powered flight (although some are secondarily flightless). Many scientists characterize birds as dinosaurs, but this is consequence of the physical structure of evolutionary diagrams. Birds aren’t dinosaurs. They’re birds. The logic & rationale that some use to justify statements such as “birds are dinosaurs” is the same logic & rationale that results in saying “vertebrates are echinoderms”. Well, no one says the latter. No one should say the former, either.

However, birds are evolutionarily derived from theropod dinosaurs. Birds first appeared in the Triassic or Jurassic, depending on which avian paleontologist you ask. They inhabit a wide variety of terrestrial and surface marine environments, and exhibit considerable variation in behaviors and diets.

Ectopistes migratorius.jpg
Captive Passenger Pigeon.