Note 1
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The Passenger Pigeon, Ectopictes migratorius, was sometimes
called the "wild pigeon" or "American pigeon." Its phenomenal
numbers were described by Audubon and other naturalists of the 19th Century.
Some ornithologists estimate that there were as many Passenger Pigeons as
all other birds in the Americas combined: it was the most abundant bird
in the world. It was severely reduced in numbers by systematic and massive
market-hunting, and by habit destruction (the cutting of old forests). Adapted
to life in large flocks, the species was unable to maintain itself in small,
scattered bands, and steadily decreased even after market-hunting had become
unprofitable. It is possible that the introduction of diseases from domestic
pigeons may also have played a part in the demise of this remarkable species.
The last individual Passenger Pigeon was "Martha," a captive specimen
in the Cincinnati Zoo, who died in 1914. |