The Loss of the Passenger Pigeon

Above: Martha, believed to be the last Passenger Pigeon, as a mounted specimen.

Public domain. Shufeldt, Robert W. - Shufeldt, Rober W., Published figures and plates of the extinct passenger pigeon. Scientific monthly, v. 12, no. 5, May 1921, p467. Online: Archive.org

By Jennie Shurtleff

One hundred nine years ago, on September 1, 1914, at 1 pm, Martha died. Martha was a passenger pigeon, believed to have been the last survivor of her species on earth, and in the moment of her death, the species became extinct.

What makes the story of Martha so poignant and almost unbelievable is that fewer than 50 years earlier there had been between 3 and 5 billion passenger pigeons in the eastern part of the United States and Canada, including a population in our own Connecticut River Valley.

So what led to the rapid demise of this species? The two main causes were the decimation of the birds’ woodland habitat and the wide-scale slaughter of the birds for both meat and sport. As early as the mid 1700s, one land surveyor, who travelled to areas that were increasingly being “improved” by European settlers, noted that in areas where the trees had been cut down, the number of pigeons had sharply diminished. Since the birds relied on large trees, such as oak and beech trees for roosting and nesting, as well as the nuts from these trees as a source of food, the loss of the trees impacted their ability to survive.

In addition to acorns and beechnuts, the birds’ diets also included a variety of berries, grapes, worms, snails, caterpillars, and grains.

While the birds ate many pests, such as snails and caterpillars, the fact that they also ate berries, grapes, and grains, brought them in conflict with people. Both farmers and sportsmen sought to slaughter as many birds as possible, employing guns, nets, clubs, and cutting down the trees which could contain hundreds of nestlings.

Above: 1875 image showing a flock of passenger pigeons and men shooting them below.

One flock of pigeons that passed over head in Ontario in 1866 was estimated to be 300 miles long and one mile wide. It supposedly took 14 hours for the entire flock to pass.

Public domain.

The impact of this “war on the pigeons” was devastating. In 2017, a research study that looked at the DNA of passenger pigeons concluded that the size of the species’ population had been relatively stable for about 20,000 years before the 19th century. However, between the years 1870 and 1890, the once-plentiful passenger pigeons became a rarity and were only spotted in small numbers in remote areas. In the year 1900, the last known wild passenger pigeon was killed in Ohio.

At this point, the remaining passenger pigeons, which were in captivity, were divided into groups. Martha, who lived in a Cincinnati Zoo, originally had two male passenger pigeon companions. However, in 1910, with the loss of the last last of the two males, came the realization that the species was likely doomed. There was an offer of a $1,000 reward to anyone who could find Martha a mate, but none was found.

Unfortunately, the passenger pigeon is not the only species that was eradicated, or nearly eradicated, because of the actions of humans.

Edward Cushing Dana, who grew up in the Dana House in Woodstock, wrote an essay about life in the Woodstock area in the 19th century. He notes that hunting competitions were popular in Woodstock during the fall. Teams would go out and shoot virtually any wild bird or animal they could find between the hours of sunrise and sunset. The different types of animals were often assigned a point value based on their rarity or the degree to which they were considered a pest. The more rare an animal was, the more these hunters wanted to find that animal and kill it to get more points for the contest. At the end of the hunt, the animals would be brought in, and points would be tallied to determine which team was the winner. The event ended with the losers paying for the dinner for the winning team. Dana notes that these competitions contributed to the sharp decrease in wildlife in the Woodstock area during the 19th century.   

Charles Morris Cobb, while still a youngster, living in what is now known as the Vondell area of West Woodstock, noticed the same thing happening in his neighborhood. One of his neighbors, Geo Grow, liked to shoot any wild animal that he saw. When Charles’ mother was sick, the doctor recommended that she have some squirrel broth. Charles’ father went out in search of a squirrel only to find that they had largely been eradicated as had many of the other woodland critters like foxes. Charles notes that the loss of such predators, in turn, led to an increase in the mouse population in 1851, and that mice were “thicker than pudding.”

Human predation, that led to the scarcity of squirrels, was also one reason for the decreased number of trout in the area. In the mid 19th century, trout were plentiful and fishing was a favorite pastimes of most of the boys in both the village and the countryside. However, by 1914, the same year that the passenger pigeon Martha died, the Elm Tree Monthly stated in an article that, “The good old fishing days are past, we are told, and unless one has a share in a prosperous preserve, the chances of getting a respectable string of trout in a day’s march or ride are very remote.” The article goes on to state that “The depopulation of our trout streams is attributable to several causes. Years of continuous fishing and unlimited catches have robbed many of the brooks of their wild life – those streams at least which are in reach of the chief summer resorts, the larger towns and villages, and have been raided regularly season after season up to within a few years. Dry spells have killed more or less fish and the indiscriminate cutting of forests has affected the streams to some extent, so that the torrents of early spring become not much more than a trickle in midsummer.”

Late 19th-century view of West Woodstock showing the amount of deforestation which, in turn, had long-term implications for both the environment and wildlife.

Image of the Pinnated Grouse (Plate 186), subspecies T.C. Cupido (commonly known as “Heath Hen”) drawn by painter and naturalist John James Audubon.

Nearly a decade later, in 1923, the Vermont Standard ran an article celebrating the increase in the number of pheasants in Vermont. The article notes “Pheasants should have become so numerous in Vermont as to permit an open season in 1925…. It is apparent that he [Vermont’s then Game Commissioner] has established the pheasants and has proved that the birds turned loose, a hardy mongrel variety, will survive Vermont winters. His undertakings at the game refuge at the mouth of the Lamoille River should have the endorsement of every outdoor man and woman in the state…. Several species of game birds have already become extinct, notably the passenger pigeon, the Labrador duck and the great whooping crane. Only a few specimens of the heath hen exist in spite of efforts to preserve that member of the grouse family and the prairie chicken has become exceedingly rare.”

Despite the loss, or near loss of these species, the author of the article suggests that perhaps “the wild turkey can be re-established in the mountains of Vermont to the extent that our grandchildren may be able to provide the main feature of Thanksgiving dinner without going to the butcher, as did the Pilgrim Fathers of Plymouth, but if that lordly biped may be induced to become a scenic attraction much will have been accomplished. The number of persons whose paramount interest in outdoor life is not limited to opportunities to ‘kill something’ is increasing every year and they are entitled to some considerations along with the slayers.”

Times have changed over the last hundred years, but perhaps not enough to insure the survival of certain species. Turkeys are a success story. Large flocks can be seen roaming about the hills of Vermont. However, the heath hen – a form of grouse mentioned in the 1923 article – like the passenger pigeon before it, also became extinct. By the 1870s, due to hunting and loss of habitat, the heath hen had disappeared off the mainland of the United States. There was, however, a small population on Martha’s Vineyard. Despite early successes in increasing the population from about 100 birds to about 2,000, a wildfire ended up killing most of the population, and those that remained were mainly males. This led to inbreeding as well as the remaining flock contracting diseases from domesticated poultry. The inbreeding likely resulted in at least the male heath hens having degraded reproductive organs and unable to successfully breed. By 1929, only a single heath hen remained. By 1932, he had disappeared as well.

One of the common factors in most extinctions appears to be the loss or change of habitat. The state of Vermont has tried to balance its desire for more development and at the same time maintaining habitat for wildlife by setting aside contiguous parcels of preserved land as wildlife corridors.  Hopefully such efforts and continuing to share the sad saga of the passenger pigeon will insure the survival of other species.

One of many flocks of wild turkeys that roam the greater Woodstock area.