A pair of Passenger Pigeons
John James Audubon (1785-1851)

Imagine.

It’s a nice spring afternoon. The sun is shining, and you and your friends are playing in the park.

Suddenly, the sky grows dark. Is it a storm? Is it night time already? No and no. Then what on earth is it?

Why, it’s a flock of passenger pigeons!

Passenger pigeons once lived across much of North America. At one point, billions of them flew across the country. They flew in massive flocks that could darken the skies for days at a time. Often, they would completely block out the sun. When they nested, so many birds perched in the trees that the limbs would sag and snap.

​There were so many of the birds that people hunted them without worrying that they were killing too many. 

Unfortunately, passenger pigeons were hunted until there were no more left. ​Now no one will ever see their awesome flocks soaring across the sky again.

The 5 Ws

Who is a keeper?

The passenger pigeon 
​(Ectopistes migratorius)

​

What is this keeper’s status?

Extinct


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Why? ​

The passenger pigeon went extinct because of overhunting. (Greenberg 194-195) (Blockstein)
​

When?

The last last passenger pigeon died in 1914.


​

Where?

The passenger pigeon lived mostly in the Central and Eastern United States and Canada.

More facts!

What habitat did the passenger pigeon live in?
Passenger pigeons liked to live in deciduous forests. These are forests made of trees that lose their leaves every year.

What did the passenger pigeon eat?
The passenger pigeon ate many things, including nuts, berries, earthworms, caterpillars, and grain. (Blockstein)

Painting of a male
K. Hayashi, c. 1900