Passenger pigeon

Fact file

Name: Passenger pigeon
Status: Extinct

Habitat: Passenger pigeons were once found in huge numbers across North America.

Description: Looks rather like the common pigeons you see in the street every day.

Reasons for extinction: In the 17th and 18th centuries passenger pigeons were everywhere - they were so common that when they began to migrate they blackened the skies - blocking out the sun for hours or even whole days! They were probably the most common bird on the whole planet until about 300 years ago. But, by 1912, rewards were being given to people who could find any evidence of these birds living in the wild. The last bird, called 'Martha', died in a zoo in 1914.

How could this happen? Well, they were hunted - but it wasn't just hunting that caused their extinction. You see, the passenger pigeon needed to nest and raise their chicks around lots of other pigeons. So, when their numbers began to decline because of hunting, they became unable to breed properly. This made the population fragile, and when humans hunted them further, shooting and trapping them, they managed to exterminate the entire species.

Passenger pigeon illustration on white background

This is a passenger pigeon we have at the Museum. You can see that it looks quite like a pigeon you would see in town every day, but there are differences - can you spot them?

Museums are now the only places you will see a passenger pigeon. Because the passenger pigeon was once so common, people did not think it was very important to have them in museums. And then as they became very rare very quickly there were not many specimens left to go around.

Museums now take great care of extinct animal specimens - it is important that we keep them safe for the future.

This is a picture of Martha, the last passenger pigeon. She was donated to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington after she had died in 1914 in Cincinnati Zoo.

When she was given to the museum, it was a condition that she would be on display there for visitors to see her. Specimens on display often become dusty, faded and damaged.If specimens are to be preserved properly they must be protected, and this often means taking them off display. Unfortunately this also means that most people can't see them. This is a problem for many museums.

This is a photograph of a Carolina parakeet that we have at the Museum. It was once common in North America, but was driven to extinction in the early twentieth century.

Why did it become extinct? As settlers spread into parts of North America they cut down forests and planted crops, including fruits and grains, that the Carolina parakeet loved to eat. They were soon declared pests, and shot in huge numbers. Others were taken as pets, and their feathers were prized as ornaments for ladies' hats. By the 1920s there were no more Carolina parakeets left. The US had lost its only native parrot.

You may think you know all about pigeons - you see them every day in parks, gardens, and towns. But did you know that there are about 300 different species of pigeon across the world?

This is the Maroon-breasted crowned pigeon found in Papua New Guinea. It is a large and colourful bird, with an elaborate feathered crest.

This is a Rock dove. You may think it looks like the pigeons you see every day in towns. Well there is a good reason for this - it is one!

Rock doves are native to Europe, Africa and parts of Asia. They have been domesticated for thousands of years for food and were used in both world wars as carrier pigeons.
Feral rock doves find the buildings around town centres good nesting sites. They find scraps of food in the streets and people even feed them. It is very unlikely that this species is going to go extinct!

No, you haven't come to the wrong section - you may not think it, but the dodo is actually a pigeon!

We are quite proud of our dodo. Scientists right here in the Museum studied the DNA of the dodo and discovered that it belonged to the same family as pigeons. In fact it is quite closely related to another pigeon on display here - the Crowned pigeon of New Guinea

Passenger pigeon

Fact file

Images of different species of pigeon