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105-453: The passenger pigeon or wild pigeon ( Ectopistes migratorius ) is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to North America . Its common name is derived from the French word passager , meaning "passing by", due to the migratory habits of the species. The scientific name also refers to its migratory characteristics. The morphologically similar mourning dove ( Zenaida macroura )

210-423: A buff-gray that developed into white on the belly and undertail-coverts. It was browner on the upperparts and paler buff brown and less rufous on the underparts than the male. The wings, back, and tail were similar in appearance to those of the male except that the outer edges of the primary feathers were edged in buff or rufous buff. The wings had more spotting than those of the male. The tail was shorter than that of

315-631: A descriptive ornithologist the author stands even now unsurpassed;   ...". For each species Brisson clearly indicated whether he had examined a specimen or whether he was relying on descriptions by other authors. Although in Brisson coined a Latin name for each bird species, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). However, Brisson also introduced names for genera and these are accepted by

420-446: A few decades without proper conservation efforts; for some of these species, the current presence of extant populations is uncertain. While often impacted by many factors simultaneously, habitat loss, exploitation, and invasive species are the greatest influences on avian extinction. Island species are especially sensitive to these factors, with 95% of bird extinctions since the late 15th century being native to islands. Habitat loss has

525-495: A long, drawn-out "tweet", could be used to call down a flock of passenger pigeons passing overhead, which would then land in a nearby tree. "Keeho" was a soft cooing that, while followed by louder "keck" notes or scolding, was directed at the bird's mate. A nesting passenger pigeon would also give off a stream of at least eight mixed notes that were both high and low in tone and ended with "keeho". Overall, female passenger pigeons were quieter and called infrequently. Craig suggested that

630-403: A male skeleton in 1914, but Julian P. Hume noted several distinct features in a more detailed 2015 description. The pigeon's particularly large breast muscles indicated a powerful flight ( musculus pectoralis major for downstroke and the smaller musculus supracoracoideus for upstroke). The coracoid bone (which connects the scapula , furcula , and sternum ) was large relative to the size of

735-415: A migration he observed in 1813 as follows: I dismounted, seated myself on an eminence, and began to mark with my pencil, making a dot for every flock that passed. In a short time finding the task which I had undertaken impracticable, as the birds poured in in countless multitudes, I rose and, counting the dots then put down, found that 163 had been made in twenty-one minutes. I traveled on, and still met more

840-515: A number would likely represent a large fraction of the entire population at the time, or perhaps all of it. Most estimations of numbers were based on single migrating colonies, and it is unknown how many of these existed at a given time. American writer Christopher Cokinos has suggested that if the birds flew single file, they would have stretched around the Earth 22 times. A 2014 genetic study (based on coalescent theory and on "sequences from most of

945-474: A passenger pigeon was capable of living at least 15 years; Martha , the last known living passenger pigeon, was at least 17 and possibly as old as 29 when she died. It is undocumented how long wild pigeons lived. The bird is believed to have played a significant ecological role in the composition of pre-Columbian forests of eastern North America. For instance, while the passenger pigeon was extant, forests were dominated by white oaks . This species germinated in

1050-422: A series of descriptions and musical notations , based on observation of C. O. Whitman's captive passenger pigeons in 1903. Craig compiled these records to assist in identifying potential survivors in the wild (as the physically similar mourning doves could otherwise be mistaken for passenger pigeons), while noting this "meager information" was likely all that would be left on the subject. According to Craig, one call

1155-415: A series of low notes, instead of an actual song. The birds apparently made croaking noises when building nests, and bell-like sounds when mating. During feeding, some individuals would give alarm calls when facing a threat, and the rest of the flock would join the sound while taking off. In 1911, American behavioral scientist Wallace Craig published an account of the gestures and sounds of this species as

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1260-589: A sizable impact on birds, with deforestation in particular associated with declines in around 70% of all known avian taxa. Some birds may be more susceptible to anthropogenic activities due to morphology. Smaller avian species tend to be harmed more significantly by the destruction of habitat, and bigger species are often endangered more so by human hunting and invasive species. Larger birds faced with extinction are often island species, and these differences in influence among birds may be in association with traits that differ between many island and mainland birds. Although

1365-614: A slumped position that hid their feet. They slept with their bills concealed by the feathers in the middle of the breast while holding their tail at a 45-degree angle. Dung could accumulate under a roosting site to a depth of over 0.3 m (1.0 ft). If the pigeon became alert, it would often stretch out its head and neck in line with its body and tail, then nod its head in a circular pattern. When aggravated by another pigeon, it raised its wings threateningly, but passenger pigeons almost never actually fought. The pigeon bathed in shallow water, and afterwards lay on each side in turn and raised

1470-414: A smaller clutch . In a 2002 study by American geneticist Beth Shapiro et al., museum specimens of the passenger pigeon were included in an ancient DNA analysis for the first time (in a paper focusing mainly on the dodo ), and it was found to be the sister taxon of the cuckoo-dove genus Macropygia . The Zenaida doves were instead shown to be related to the quail-doves of the genus Geotrygon and

1575-428: A torrent, and with a noise like thunder, they rushed into a compact mass, pressing upon each other towards the center. In these almost solid masses, they darted forward in undulating and angular lines, descended and swept close over the earth with inconceivable velocity, mounted perpendicularly so as to resemble a vast column, and, when high, were seen wheeling and twisting within their continued lines, which then resembled

1680-413: Is often degraded and fragmentary, and passenger pigeon specimens have been used in various studies to discover improved methods of analyzing and assembling genomes from such material. DNA samples are often taken from the toe pads of bird skins in museums, as this can be done without causing significant damage to valuable specimens. The passenger pigeon had no known subspecies. Hybridization occurred between

1785-503: Is one of the reasons why the large flocks were constantly on the move. As mast is produced during autumn, there would have to be a large amount of it left by the summer, when the young were reared. It is unknown how they located this fluctuating food source, but their eyesight and flight powers helped them survey large areas for places that could provide food enough for a temporary stay. Bird extinction For critically endangered species, scientists estimate they will face extinction in

1890-514: Is still an issue prevalent in the 21st century, even with the establishment of conservational statutes. The ortolan bunting , a songbird considered to be a traditional delicacy, is hunted illegally in France, where it faces complete extirpation. The pet trade also has strong ties to bird extinction, particularly affecting parrots. This poaching was the primary cause of the Spix's macaw 's extinction in

1995-522: Is thought to be fully derivative of these earlier accounts and their illustrations. In his 1766 edition of Systema Naturae , Linnaeus dropped the name C. macroura , and instead used the name C. migratoria for the passenger pigeon, and C. carolinensis for the mourning dove. In the same edition, Linnaeus also named C. canadensis , based on Turtur canadensis , as used by Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. Brisson's description

2100-501: Is via crypsis , involving minimal movement. This behavior is effective against native predators (i.e., raptors), but does little to dissuade the invasive mammals of New Zealand (e.g., rats, cats, and stoats). Many bird extinction events tied to disease also correlate with introduced species. Hawaiian honeycreepers , a family of finches native to Hawaii, are a prime example of this. Hawaiian honeycreeper populations are harmed by avian malaria , and its spread to these birds correlates with

2205-682: The Leptotila doves. A more extensive 2010 study instead showed that the passenger pigeon was most closely related to the New World Patagioenas pigeons, including the band-tailed pigeon ( P. fasciata ) of western North America, which are related to the Southeast Asian species in the genera Turacoena , Macropygia , and Reinwardtoena . This clade is also related to the Columba and Streptopelia doves of

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2310-523: The Cincinnati Zoo in 1918. The Tasmanian emu was a subspecies of emu endemic to the island of Tasmania, Australia. In comparison to its mainland relatives, the Tasmanian emus were believed to be smaller in size and appeared to have a darker plumage, lacking the distinctive black feather found in other emu subspecies. Historical records indicate that within just 20 years, from the 1830s to

2415-565: The College of Navarre in Paris. For a period of time, Brisson was an instructor of physical sciences and natural history to the family of the monarch. From 1759, he was a member of the Academy of Sciences . A significant work involving the " specific weight of bodies" was his Pesanteur Spécifique des Corps published in 1787. In his investigations of electricity , Brisson was opposed to

2520-637: The La Brea Tar Pits of California. These records date as far back as 100,000 years ago in the Pleistocene era, during which the pigeon's range extended to several western states that were not a part of its modern range. The abundance of the species in these regions and during this time is unknown. The passenger pigeon was nomadic , constantly migrating in search of food, shelter, or nesting grounds. In his 1831 Ornithological Biography , American naturalist and artist John James Audubon described

2625-826: The Patagioenas pigeon was confirmed. In contrast to the 2010 study, these authors suggested that their results could indicate that the ancestors of the passenger pigeon and its Old World relatives may have originated in the Neotropical region of the New World. The cladogram below follows the 2012 DNA study showing the position of the passenger pigeon among its closest relatives: Macropygia (cuckoo-doves) Reinwardtoena Turacoena Columba (Old World pigeons) Streptopelia (turtle doves and collared doves) Patagioenas (New World pigeons) Ectopistes ( passenger pigeon ) DNA in old museum specimens

2730-488: The genome " of three individual passenger pigeons) suggested that the passenger pigeon population experienced dramatic fluctuations across the last million years, due to their dependence on availability of mast (which itself fluctuates). The study suggested the bird was not always abundant, mainly persisting at around 1/10,000 the amount of the several billions estimated in the 1800s, with vastly larger numbers present during outbreak phases. Some early accounts also suggest that

2835-431: The reservoir hosts of Borrelia burgdorferi . Beeches and oaks produced the mast needed to support nesting and roosting flocks. The passenger pigeon changed its diet depending on the season. In the fall, winter, and spring, it mainly ate beechnuts, acorns , and chestnuts. During the summer, berries and softer fruits, such as blueberries , grapes , cherries , mulberries , pokeberries , and bunchberry , became

2940-423: The tarsus was 26 to 28 mm (1.0 to 1.1 in). The adult female passenger pigeon was slightly smaller than the male at 380 to 400 mm (15.0 to 15.7 in) in length. It was duller than the male overall, and was a grayish-brown on the forehead, crown, and nape down to the scapulars , and the feathers on the sides of the neck had less iridescence than those of the male. The lower throat and breast were

3045-540: The 1850s, the Tasmanian emu became locally extinct. This occurred due to various factors that led to the disappearance of this subspecies. In June 2020 the Royal Society of South Australia published a list of 95 Australian bird fossils . The list includes three species of huge flamingos from the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre and Lake Frome areas of South Australia , which were estimated to inhabit

3150-901: The French in Europe it was known as tourtre . In modern French, the bird is known as tourte voyageuse or pigeon migrateur , among other names. In the Native American Algonquian languages , the pigeon was called amimi by the Lenape , omiimii by the Ojibwe , and mimia by the Kaskaskia Illinois . Other names in indigenous American languages include ori'te in Mohawk , and putchee nashoba , or "lost dove", in Choctaw . The Seneca people called

3255-488: The French word passager , which means "to pass by" in a fleeting manner. While the pigeon was extant, the name "passenger pigeon" was used interchangeably with "wild pigeon". The bird also gained some less-frequently used names, including blue pigeon, merne rouck pigeon, wandering long-tailed dove, and wood pigeon. In the 18th century, the passenger pigeon was known as tourte in New France (in modern Canada), but to

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3360-638: The Gulf Coast, and northern Florida, though flocks occasionally wintered as far north as southern Pennsylvania and Connecticut. It preferred to winter in large swamps, particularly those with alder trees; if swamps were not available, forested areas, particularly with pine trees, were favored roosting sites. There were also sightings of passenger pigeons outside of its normal range, including in several Western states, Bermuda , Cuba , and Mexico , particularly during severe winters. It has been suggested that some of these extralimital records may have been due to

3465-635: The ICZN. Linnaeus relied heavily on Brisson's work when updating his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition in 1766. Linnaeus added 386 bird species of which 240 were based exclusively on Brisson. De Réaumur died in 1757 and although in his will he left his large collection to the French Academy of Sciences , it was instead absorbed into the "Cabinet du roi", the royal natural history collection in Paris. Brisson abandoned zoology and in 1762 succeeded Jean-Antoine Nollet as professor of physics at

3570-777: The Lee Creek Mine in North Carolina in sediments belonging to the Yorktown Formation , dating to the Zanclean stage of the Pliocene , between 5.3 and 3.6 million years ago. Its closest living relatives were long thought to be the Zenaida doves , based on morphological grounds, particularly the physically similar mourning dove (now Z. macroura ). It was even suggested that the mourning dove belonged to

3675-520: The Old World (collectively termed the "typical pigeons and doves"). The authors of the study suggested that the ancestors of the passenger pigeon may have colonized the New World from South East Asia by flying across the Pacific Ocean , or perhaps across Beringia in the north. In a 2012 study, the nuclear DNA of the passenger pigeon was analyzed for the first time, and its relationship with

3780-636: The United States every year in the early 21st century. Even within their range, the size of individual flocks could vary greatly. In November 1859, Henry David Thoreau , writing in Concord, Massachusetts , noted that "quite a little flock of [passenger] pigeons bred here last summer," while only seven years later, in 1866, one flock in southern Ontario was described as being 1.5 km (0.93 mi) wide and 500 km (310 mi) long, took 14 hours to pass, and held in excess of 3.5 billion birds. Such

3885-583: The United States, but the primary breeding range was in southern Ontario and the Great Lakes states south through states north of the Appalachian Mountains . Though the western forests were ecologically similar to those in the east, these were occupied by band-tailed pigeons, which may have kept out the passenger pigeons through competitive exclusion . The passenger pigeon wintered from Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina south to Texas,

3990-480: The Vendée. Brisson became interested in the classification of animals and was influenced by the works of Carl Linnaeus and Jacob Theodor Klein . His book Le Règne animal was published in 1756, and the highly regarded six-volume work Ornithologie was published in 1760. The English ornithologist Alfred Newton wrote of Brisson's Ornithologie that it was "a work of very great merit so far as it goes, for as

4095-410: The abdomen and undertail covert feathers. The undertail coverts also had a few black spots. The bill was black, while the feet and legs were a bright coral red. It had a carmine -red iris surrounded by a narrow purplish-red eye-ring. The wing of the male measured 196 to 215 mm (7.7 to 8.5 in), the tail 175 to 210 mm (6.9 to 8.3 in), the bill 15 to 18 mm (0.59 to 0.71 in), and

4200-419: The accumulation of flammable debris (such as limbs broken from trees and foliage killed by excrement) at these sites may have increased both the frequency and intensity of forest fires , which would have favored fire-tolerant species , such as bur oaks , black oaks , and white oaks over less fire-tolerant species, such as red oaks, thus helping to explain the change in the composition of eastern forests since

4305-453: The adult female, but lacked the spotting on the wings, and was a darker brownish-gray on the head, neck, and breast. The feathers on the wings had pale gray fringes (also described as white tips), giving it a scaled look. The secondaries were brownish-black with pale edges, and the tertial feathers had a rufous wash. The primaries were also edged with a rufous-brown color. The neck feathers had no iridescence. The legs and feet were dull red, and

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4410-418: The angle of the light. The upper back and wings were a pale or slate gray tinged with olive brown, that turned into grayish-brown on the lower wings. The lower back and rump were a dark blue-gray that became grayish-brown on the upper tail- covert feathers . The greater and median wing-covert feathers were pale gray, with a small number of irregular black spots near the end. The primary and secondary feathers of

4515-468: The appearance of flocks in great numbers was an irregular occurrence. These large fluctuations in population may have been the result of a disrupted ecosystem and have consisted of outbreak populations much larger than those common in pre-European times. The authors of the 2014 genetic study note that a similar analysis of the human population size arrives at an " effective population size " of between 9,000 and 17,000 individuals (or approximately 1/550,000th of

4620-779: The area for 25 million years before becoming extinct about 140,000 years ago, most likely from drought . There were also penguins measuring about 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) tall, which lived between about 60 million and 30 million years ago, dying out in the Oligocene . Researcher Trevor Worthy said that little was known about the evolution of birds in Australia, which stands at about 1,000 species. Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson ( French pronunciation: [matyʁɛ̃ ʒak bʁisɔ̃] ; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806)

4725-470: The arrival of Europeans, particularly in the 19th century. Pigeon meat was commercialized as cheap food, resulting in hunting on a massive scale for many decades. There were several other factors contributing to the decline and subsequent extinction of the species, including shrinking of the large breeding populations necessary for preservation of the species and widespread deforestation , which destroyed its habitat . A slow decline between about 1800 and 1870

4830-593: The arrival of the invasive southern house mosquito , a known avian malaria vector. The dodo is perhaps one of the most widely recognized extinct bird species. A plump, flightless bird closely related to doves, the dodo lived solely on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. As is seen with regularity in species with abundant food and no predators on an isolated island, their descendants evolved per their environment. Dodos were flightless and, especially compared to other doves, were large and stout. Mauritius

4935-412: The binomial name Columba macroura for both the mourning dove and the passenger pigeon in the 1758 edition of his work Systema Naturae (the starting point of biological nomenclature ), wherein he appears to have considered the two identical. This composite description cited accounts of these birds in two pre-Linnean books. One of these was Mark Catesby 's description of the passenger pigeon, which

5040-451: The bird, 33.4 mm (1.31 in), with straighter shafts and more robust articular ends than in other pigeons. The furcula had a sharper V-shape and was more robust, with expanded articular ends. The scapula was long, straight, and robust, and its distal end was enlarged. The sternum was very large and robust compared to that of other pigeons; its keel was 25 mm (0.98 in) deep. The overlapping uncinate processes , which stiffen

5145-447: The closer the wings got to the body. It was equally adept and quick flying through a forest as through open space. A flock was also adept at following the lead of the pigeon in front of it, and flocks swerved together to avoid a predator. When landing, the pigeon flapped its wings repeatedly before raising them at the moment of landing. The pigeon was awkward when on the ground, and moved around with jerky, alert steps. The passenger pigeon

5250-412: The coils of a gigantic serpent ... Before sunset I reached Louisville, distant from Hardensburgh fifty-five miles. The Pigeons were still passing in undiminished numbers and continued to do so for three days in succession. These flocks were frequently described as being so dense that they blackened the sky and as having no sign of subdivisions. The flocks ranged from only 1.0 m (3.3 ft) above

5355-421: The complete destruction of habitat can gravely diminish species viability, the fragmentation of habitat is also harmful and associated with extinction. For example, the wood thrush , although extant and not endangered, has seen substantial decline due in part to fragmented habitats. The brown-headed cowbird , a native brood parasite , is much more pervasive in smaller forested areas. This shift in habitat has made

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5460-404: The dominant tree species in regions where passenger pigeons were commonly present in the spring. With the large numbers in passenger pigeon flocks, the excrement they produced was enough to destroy surface-level vegetation at long-term roosting sites, while adding high quantities of nutrients to the ecosystem . Because of this—along with the breaking of tree limbs under their collective weight and

5565-402: The eastern deciduous forests . Within this range, it constantly migrated in search of food and shelter. It is unclear if the birds favored particular trees and terrain, but they were possibly not restricted to one type, as long as their numbers could be supported. It originally bred from the southern parts of eastern and central Canada south to eastern Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Georgia in

5670-421: The eastern half of the United States. The granivorous birds ate many agricultural crops in high numbers, much to the ire of local farmers. This, on top of interest in their colorful feathers, fueled massive killing efforts. Large death tolls and loss of habitat decimated their populations. The Carolina parakeet was deemed extinct in the early 1920s, with the last member of its species, a male named Incas , dying in

5775-409: The ecosystem by creating openings in forest canopies to provide more understory light. The American chestnut trees that provided much of the mast on which the passenger pigeon fed was itself almost driven to extinction by an imported Asian fungus ( chestnut blight ) around 1905. As many as thirty billion trees are thought to have died as a result in the following decades, but this did not affect

5880-455: The extent of human persecution, weather conditions, or other, unknown factors. Roosts ranged in size and extent, from a few acres to 260 km (100 sq mi) or greater. Some roosting areas would be reused for subsequent years, others would only be used once. The passenger pigeon roosted in such numbers that even thick tree branches would break under the strain. The birds frequently piled on top of each other's backs to roost. They rested in

5985-452: The face of habitat loss and invasive species, the dodo is suspected to have gone extinct in the late 1600s, likely before it was fully described by taxonomists. Its sudden extinction highlights the susceptibility of endemic island species, and the dodo serves as an early poster species for anthropogenic extinction. The great auk (or, as it has been nicknamed, the “Penguin of the North”)

6090-413: The fall, therefore making its seeds almost useless as a food source during the spring breeding season, while red oaks produced acorns during the spring, which the pigeons devoured. The absence of the passenger pigeon's seed consumption may have contributed to the modern dominance of red oaks. Due to the immense amount of dung present at roosting sites, few plants grew for years after the pigeons left. Also,

6195-406: The farther I proceeded. The air was literally filled with Pigeons; the light of noon-day was obscured as by an eclipse; the dung fell in spots, not unlike melting flakes of snow, and the continued buzz of wings had a tendency to lull my senses to repose ... I cannot describe to you the extreme beauty of their aerial evolutions, when a hawk chanced to press upon the rear of the flock. At once, like

6300-439: The genus Ectopistes and was listed as E. carolinensis by some authors, including Thomas Mayo Brewer . The passenger pigeon was supposedly descended from Zenaida pigeons that had adapted to the woodlands on the plains of central North America. The passenger pigeon differed from the species in the genus Zenaida in being larger, lacking a facial stripe, being sexually dimorphic , and having iridescent neck feathers and

6405-635: The great amount of mast they consumed—passenger pigeons are thought to have influenced both the structure of eastern forests and the composition of the species present there. Due to these influences, some ecologists have considered the passenger pigeon a keystone species , with the disappearance of their vast flocks leaving a major gap in the ecosystem. Their role in creating forest disturbances has been linked to greater vertebrate diversity in forests by creating more niches for animals to fill. To help fill that ecological gap, it has been proposed that modern land managers attempt to replicate some of their effects on

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6510-407: The ground in windy conditions to as high as 400 m (1,300 ft). These migrating flocks were typically in narrow columns that twisted and undulated, and they were reported as being in nearly every conceivable shape. A skilled flyer, the passenger pigeon is estimated to have averaged 100 km/h (62 mph) during migration. It flew with quick, repeated flaps that increased the bird's velocity

6615-438: The iris was brownish, and surrounded by a narrow carmine ring. The plumage of the sexes was similar during their first year. Of the hundreds of surviving skins, only one appears to be aberrant in color—an adult female from the collection of Walter Rothschild , Natural History Museum at Tring . It is a washed brown on the upper parts, wing covert, secondary feathers, and tail (where it would otherwise have been gray), and white on

6720-612: The loud, strident voice and "degenerated" musicality was the result of living in populous colonies where only the loudest sounds could be heard. The passenger pigeon was found across most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains , from the Great Plains to the Atlantic coast in the east, to the south of Canada in the north, and the north of Mississippi in the southern United States, coinciding with its primary habitat,

6825-432: The main objects of its consumption. It also ate worms , caterpillars , snails , and other invertebrates, particularly while breeding. It took advantage of cultivated grains, particularly buckwheat , when it found them. It was especially fond of salt , which it ingested either from brackish springs or salty soil. Mast occurs in large quantities in different places at different times, and rarely in consecutive years, which

6930-403: The male, and the legs and feet were a paler red. The iris was orange red, with a grayish blue, naked orbital ring. The wing of the female was 180 to 210 mm (7.1 to 8.3 in), the tail 150 to 200 mm (5.9 to 7.9 in), the bill 15 to 18 mm (0.59 to 0.71 in), and the tarsus was 25 to 28 mm (0.98 to 1.10 in). The juvenile passenger pigeon was similar in plumage to

7035-433: The name migratorius for the passenger pigeon, since this was the intended use by the authors on whose work Linnaeus had based his description. This was accepted by the ICZN, which used its plenary powers to designate the species for the respective names in 1955. The passenger pigeon was a member of the pigeon and dove family, Columbidae . The oldest known fossil of the genus is an isolated humerus (USNM 430960) known from

7140-467: The neck, and black spots on the wings. The female was 380 to 400 mm (15.0 to 15.7 in), and was duller and browner than the male overall. The juvenile was similar to the female, but without iridescence. It mainly inhabited the deciduous forests of eastern North America and was also recorded elsewhere, but bred primarily around the Great Lakes . The pigeon migrated in enormous flocks, constantly searching for food, shelter, and breeding grounds, and

7245-455: The opposite wing to dry it. The passenger pigeon drank at least once a day, typically at dawn, by fully inserting its bill into lakes, small ponds, and streams. Pigeons were seen perching on top of each other to access water, and if necessary, the species could alight on open water to drink. One of the primary causes of natural mortality was the weather, and every spring many individuals froze to death after migrating north too early. In captivity,

7350-589: The passenger pigeon and the Barbary dove ( Streptopelia risoria ) in the aviary of Charles Otis Whitman (who owned many of the last captive birds around the turn of the 20th century, and kept them with other pigeon species) but the offspring were infertile. The genus name, Ectopistes , translates as "moving about" or "wandering", while the specific name, migratorius , indicates its migratory habits. The full binomial can thus be translated as "migratory wanderer". The English common name "passenger pigeon" derives from

7455-420: The passenger pigeon genome that have lower rates of genetic recombination . This is expected if natural selection, via selective sweeps or background selection , reduced their genetic diversity, but not if population instability did. The study concluded that earlier suggestion that population instability contributed to the extinction of the species was invalid. Evolutionary biologist A. Townsend Peterson said of

7560-412: The passenger pigeon's extinction (from white oaks, bur oaks, and black oaks predominating in presettlement forests, to the "dramatic expansion" of red oaks today). A study released in 2018 concluded that the "vast numbers" of passenger pigeons present for "tens of thousands of years" would have influenced the evolution of the tree species whose seeds they ate. Those masting trees that produced seeds during

7665-463: The passenger pigeon, as E. macroura . In 1918 Harry C. Oberholser suggested that C. canadensis should take precedence over C. migratoria (as E. canadensis ), as it appeared on an earlier page in Linnaeus' book. In 1952 Francis Hemming proposed that the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) secure the specific name macroura for the mourning dove, and

7770-475: The passenger pigeon, which was already extinct in the wild at the time. After the disappearance of the passenger pigeon, the population of another acorn feeding species, the white-footed mouse , grew exponentially because of the increased availability of the seeds of the oak, beech, and chestnut trees. It has been speculated that the extinction of passenger pigeons may have increased the prevalence of tick-borne lyme disease in modern times as white-footed mice are

7875-508: The paucity of observers rather than the actual extent of passenger pigeons; North America was then unsettled country, and the bird may have appeared anywhere on the continent except for the far west. There were also records of stragglers in Scotland, Ireland, and France, although these birds may have been escaped captives, or the records incorrect. More than 130 passenger pigeon fossils have been found scattered across 25 US states, including in

7980-446: The peak total human population size of 7 billion cited in the study). For a 2017 genetic study, the authors sequenced the genomes of two additional passenger pigeons, as well as analyzing the mitochondrial DNA of 41 individuals. This study found evidence that the passenger-pigeon population had been stable for at least the previous 20,000 years. The study also found that the size of the passenger pigeon population over that time period

8085-531: The pigeon jahgowa , meaning "big bread", as it was a source of food for their tribes. Chief Simon Pokagon of the Potawatomi stated that his people called the pigeon O-me-me-wog , and that the Europeans did not adopt native names for the bird, as it reminded them of their domesticated pigeons, instead calling them "wild" pigeons, as they called the native peoples "wild" men. The passenger pigeon

8190-432: The primary feathers and underparts. The normally black spots are brown, and it is pale gray on the head, lower back, and upper-tail covert feathers, yet the iridescence is unaffected. The brown mutation is a result of a reduction in eumelanin , due to incomplete synthesis ( oxidation ) of this pigment . This sex-linked mutation is common in female wild birds, but it is thought the white feathers of this specimen are instead

8295-453: The result of bleaching due to exposure to sunlight. The passenger pigeon was physically adapted for speed, endurance, and maneuverability in flight, and has been described as having a streamlined version of the typical pigeon shape, such as that of the generalized rock dove ( Columba livia ). The wings were very long and pointed, and measured 220 mm (8.7 in) from the wing-chord to the primary feathers, and 120 mm (4.7 in) to

8400-437: The ribcage, were very well developed. The wing bones ( humerus , radius , ulna , and carpometacarpus ) were short but robust compared to other pigeons. The leg bones were similar to those of other pigeons. The noise produced by flocks of passenger pigeons was described as deafening, audible for miles away, and the bird's voice as loud, harsh, and unmusical. It was also described by some as clucks, twittering, and cooing, and as

8505-421: The secondaries. The tail, which accounted for much of its overall length, was long and wedge-shaped (or graduated), with two central feathers longer than the rest. The body was slender and narrow, and the head and neck were small. The internal anatomy of the passenger pigeon has rarely been described. Robert W. Shufeldt found little to differentiate the bird's osteology from that of other pigeons when examining

8610-478: The spring nesting season (such as red oaks) evolved so that some portion of their seeds would be too large for passenger pigeons to swallow (thus allowing some of their seeds to escape predation and grow new trees). White oak, in contrast, with its seeds sized consistently in the edible range, evolved an irregular masting pattern that took place in the fall, when fewer passenger pigeons would have been present. The study further concluded that this allowed white oaks to be

8715-492: The study arrived at a human effective population size (as of 1600 AD, for Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas combined) that was roughly 1/1000 of the census population estimate for the same time and area based on anthropological and historical evidence. The 2017 passenger-pigeon genetic study also found that, in spite of its large population size, the genetic diversity was very low in the species. The authors suggested that this

8820-517: The two passenger-pigeon genetic studies (published in 2014 and 2017) that, though the idea of extreme fluctuations in the passenger-pigeon population was "deeply entrenched," he was persuaded by the 2017 study's argument, due to its "in-depth analysis" and "massive data resources." A communally roosting species, the passenger pigeon chose roosting sites that could provide shelter and enough food to sustain their large numbers for an indefinite period. The time spent at one roosting site may have depended on

8925-486: The wild. Invasive species can also pose a significant threat to bird survival, with birds of limited distribution (e.g., island species) at greater risk. Invasives dangerous to birds (pigs, rodents, etc.) typically damage bird species via ground-level predation, which, especially for many island-endemic species, they have no experience with or defense against. In the case of the kākāpō , a critically endangered New Zealand parrot, their sole means of defense against predators

9030-540: The wild. The passenger pigeon is one of the few recently extinct bird species that has been proposed for “ de-extinction ”. The entire genome of the species has been sequenced from surviving tissue, with the hope of being able to revive the species using genome engineering and in vitro fertilization . Also known as the Carolina parrot or Carolina conure, the Carolina parakeet was native to and abundant in much of

9135-410: The wing were a blackish-brown with a narrow white edge on the outer side of the secondaries. The two central tail feathers were brownish gray, and the rest were white. The tail pattern was distinctive as it had white outer edges with blackish spots that were prominently displayed in flight. The lower throat and breast were richly pinkish- rufous , grading into a paler pink further down, and into white on

9240-515: The wood thrush and other woodland songbirds further susceptible to parasitism, reducing their populations. Exploitative behavior, such as egg collection and hunting (e.g., for feathers. meat, taxidermy, etc.), is also linked to extinction and species decline. While not inherently activities in opposition to wildlife preservation, excessive harvest can significantly harm populations, potentially resulting in extirpation and/or complete extinction. While often associated with antiquity, bird exploitation

9345-413: Was sexually dimorphic in size and coloration. It weighed between 260 and 340 g (9.2 and 12.0 oz). The adult male was about 390 to 410 mm (15.4 to 16.1 in) in length. It had a bluish-gray head, nape, and hindneck. On the sides of the neck and the upper mantle were iridescent display feathers that have variously been described as being a bright bronze, violet, or golden-green, depending on

9450-542: Was a French zoologist and natural philosopher . Brisson was born on 30 April 1723 at Fontenay-le-Comte in the Vendée department of western France. His parents wished him to take ecclesiastic orders, but in 1747, he abandoned his studies, and from 1749, was employed by the wealthy French naturalist René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur as the curator of a large private collection of objects related to natural history that de Réaumur kept at his ancestral home at Réaumur in

9555-500: Was a flightless marine bird that inhabited the North Atlantic Ocean and its nearby islands. Its range once extended to the continental United States and Europe. However, by the 1800’s, its range had shrunk, breeding only on a few North Atlantic rocky islands. Targeted for their coveted skins, eggs, and down, hunters took advantage of the great auk's breeding season, when pairs nested in large colonies on rocky islands. It

9660-475: Was a flocking species that was once a species widespread in North America. Before the arrival of colonial Europeans to North America, the passenger pigeon was thought to account for up to 40% of all individual birds on the continent. The main drivers of the species' extinction were habitat destruction and overhunting. On top of anthropogenic activities, the deforestation that put passenger pigeons at risk

9765-619: Was a side-effect of natural selection , which theory and previous empirical studies suggested could have a particularly great impact on species with very large and cohesive populations. Natural selection can reduce genetic diversity over extended regions of a genome through ' selective sweeps ' or ' background selection '. The authors found evidence of a faster rate of adaptive evolution and faster removal of harmful mutations in passenger pigeons compared to band-tailed pigeons , which are some of passenger pigeons' closest living relatives. They also found evidence of lower genetic diversity in regions of

9870-420: Was a simple harsh "keck" that could be given twice in succession with a pause in between. This was said to be used to attract the attention of another pigeon. Another call was a more frequent and variable scolding. This sound was described as "kee-kee-kee-kee" or "tete! tete! tete!", and was used to call either to its mate or towards other creatures it considered to be enemies. One variant of this call, described as

9975-433: Was also catalyzed by the invasive chestnut blight , which greatly reduced the number of American chestnut trees in North America. Their abundance and congregative behavior made them an appealing choice for hunting, and the size of their populations led people to believe they were in no need of protection. The birds were killed in great numbers, and a widespread pigeon meat industry developed. Some environmental legislation

10080-552: Was claimed by the Dutch near the turn of the 15th century, and many Dutch explorers observed and wrote of the dodo. Their relative ease of capture and ample meat made them an appealing food source for mariners, who killed and ate many of them. Although hunting may have impacted their decline, introduced species are suspected to have had a strong hand in their extinction. The introduced pigs had great success on Mauritius and became abundant, likely killing dodo young and outcompeting adults. In

10185-477: Was followed by a rapid decline between 1870 and 1890. In 1900, the last confirmed wild bird was shot in southern Ohio. The last captive birds were divided in three groups around the turn of the 20th century, some of which were photographed alive. Martha , thought to be the last passenger pigeon, died on September 1, 1914, at the Cincinnati Zoo . The eradication of the species is a notable example of anthropogenic extinction . Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus coined

10290-620: Was larger than the found in the 2014 genetic study. However, the 2017 study's "conservative" estimate of an " effective population size " of 13 million birds is still only about 1/300th of the bird's estimated historic population of approximately 3–5 billion before their "19th century decline and eventual extinction." A similar study inferring human population size from genetics (published in 2008, and using human mitochondrial DNA and Bayesian coalescent inference methods) showed considerable accuracy in reflecting overall patterns of human population growth as compared to data deduced by other means—though

10395-413: Was later shown to have been based on a female passenger pigeon. In 1827, William John Swainson moved the passenger pigeon from the genus Columba to the new monotypic genus Ectopistes , due in part to the length of the wings and the wedge shape of the tail. In 1906 Outram Bangs suggested that because Linnaeus had wholly copied Catesby's text when coining C. macroura , this name should apply to

10500-433: Was long thought to be its closest relative, and the two were at times confused, but genetic analysis has shown that the genus Patagioenas is more closely related to it than the Zenaida doves . The passenger pigeon was sexually dimorphic in size and coloration. The male was 390 to 410 mm (15.4 to 16.1 in) in length, mainly gray on the upperparts, lighter on the underparts, with iridescent bronze feathers on

10605-419: Was much more difficult to hunt when not breeding, as birds were less concentrated and spent most of their time in frigid waters, where they were swift and adept swimmers. The last known sighting of the species alive was in 1844 when a breeding pair was found and strangled by fishermen, hoping to sell the birds' valuable skins. The great auk is believed to have gone extinct around this time. The passenger pigeon

10710-508: Was once the most abundant bird in North America, numbering around 3 billion, and possibly up to 5 billion. A very fast flyer, the passenger pigeon could reach a speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). The bird fed mainly on mast , and also fruits and invertebrates. It practiced communal roosting and communal breeding , and its extreme gregariousness may have been linked with searching for food and predator satiation . Passenger pigeons were hunted by Native Americans, but hunting intensified after

10815-432: Was one of the most social of all land birds. Estimated to have numbered three to five billion at the height of its population, it may have been the most numerous bird on Earth; researcher Arlie W. Schorger believed that it accounted for between 25 and 40 percent of the total land bird population in the United States. The passenger pigeon's historic population is roughly the equivalent of the number of birds that overwinter in

10920-550: Was published in his 1731 to 1743 work Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands , which referred to this bird as Palumbus migratorius , and was accompanied by the earliest published illustration of the species. Catesby's description was combined with the 1743 description of the mourning dove by George Edwards , who used the name C. macroura for that bird. There is nothing to suggest Linnaeus ever saw specimens of these birds himself, and his description

11025-400: Was put into place to protect the declining passenger pigeon, but it did little to improve their populations. Due to their congregational breeding habits, captive breeding was nigh impossible, and populations further diminished. It was declared extinct in 1914, upon the death of the last known survivor of the species, Martha , at the Cincinnati Zoo , 20 years after the species became extinct in

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