Hunted to Extinction—The Tragic End of the Passenger Pigeon

This day in history—Human impact on nature

On September 1, 1914, one of the most abundant bird species in North America went extinct. On that day, the last known passenger pigeon, a bird named Martha, died in the Cincinnati Zoo, ending a species that once numbered in the billions.

Photo byPublic Domain

There was a time when the sky would darken for hours—even days—because of the vast number of passenger pigeons in the sky. It might sound like something out of a fantasy novel, but for early Americans, this was a common sight. Passenger pigeons, scientifically known as Ectopistes migratorius, moved in massive flocks that could stretch over several miles long and contain millions of birds.

These birds nested in huge, dense communities. It’s said that a single tree could host up to a hundred nests. They preferred the vast forests of North America, particularly the deciduous forests of the eastern United States, where they could feast on their favorite foods like acorns, chestnuts, and beechnuts.

But how did a species so abundant that it literally blackened the skies meet such a tragic and abrupt end? It’s simple, humans.

In the 19th century, passenger pigeons became a prime target for commercial hunting. Their meat was cheap and easily accessible, making it a popular source of protein for Americans. Hunters didn’t need much skill to capture these birds. Since they flew in such massive flocks, it was easy to shoot them down or even capture them en masse using nets. Hunter killed thousands of pigeons in a single day. On regular occasions, entire towns would organize hunts, shooting into the flocks or setting traps that could catch dozens of birds at once.

This industrial-scale hunting was fueled by the growing railroad network, which made it easier to transport the birds from rural hunting grounds to urban markets. What was once a local practice of hunting pigeons for food quickly turned into a nationwide industry, with millions of birds being slaughtered annually.

At the same time, America’s expanding population was carving away at the forests where passenger pigeons nested. The massive deforestation that accompanied westward expansion destroyed the habitats that these birds relied on for breeding and feeding. As the forests disappeared, so did the pigeons’ ability to sustain their large populations.

By the mid-1800s, the passenger pigeon population was already in steep decline, but the magnitude of the problem wasn’t fully realized until it was too late. People couldn’t imagine a world without these birds, simply because they had always been so plentiful. Even as their numbers dwindled, commercial hunters continued their relentless pursuit, and the government did little to regulate the hunting or protect the pigeons’ habitats.

The decline became more obvious in the late 19th century, when passenger pigeons were no longer seen in their once-great numbers. Reports of massive flocks became rare, and by the 1880s, the once-common bird had become a rare sight. The last confirmed wild passenger pigeon was shot in 1900 by a boy in Ohio.

Efforts to save the species came too late. By the early 1900s, a few small captive populations existed, but these were not enough to sustain the species. The Cincinnati Zoo housed one such group, which included Martha, the last known passenger pigeon. Despite attempts to breed these pigeons in captivity, they failed to reproduce, and one by one, they died off, leaving Martha as the sole survivor.

Martha lived out her final years in the Cincinnati Zoo, where she became something of a celebrity. People came to see the last of her kind. When Martha died on September 1, 1914, the passenger pigeon was officially declared extinct.

Martha’s body was preserved and is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution.

After Martha’s death, people began to recognize the need for laws and regulations to protect wildlife from overhunting and habitat destruction. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 was passed. It provided federal protection to migratory birds.

In the century since Martha’s death, we’ve seen other species come dangerously close to the same fate. The American bison, the whooping crane, and the California condor are just a few examples of species that were brought back from the brink of extinction thanks to concerted conservation efforts.