FaunaHub
EXExtinctPartial review

Passenger Pigeon

Ectopistes migratorius

Passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius), a preserved museum specimen of the extinct bird.

Passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) — a preserved museum specimen of the extinct bird.

Image: James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

At a glance

IUCN category
EX · Extinct
Animal group
Birds
Population trend
Trend unknown
Last verified

Conservation overview

The passenger pigeon was once possibly the most abundant bird on Earth, flying over North America in flocks of billions. It is assessed as Extinct.

The last individual, named Martha, died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.

Range & habitat

Formerly eastern North America.

Major threats

Threats below are drawn from the authoritative sources listed on this page. For the current, complete assessment, see the IUCN Red List.

  • Mass commercial hunting
  • Destruction of forest habitat
  • The collapse of its huge flocks

Why it matters

From billions to none in decades, the passenger pigeon is the defining example of how even the most abundant species can be driven extinct by people.

Gallery

A mounted passenger pigeon specimen.

Passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius); a preserved specimen.

Image: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources

Sources for Passenger Pigeon

Frequently Asked Questions

How abundant was the passenger pigeon?
It is thought to have been one of the most numerous birds ever, with flocks of hundreds of millions to billions darkening the sky for hours as they passed.
How did such an abundant bird go extinct?
Published accounts cite mass commercial hunting and the destruction of its forest habitat; its survival may also have depended on huge flocks, so once numbers fell it collapsed. The last bird died in 1914.

Last updated: