Passenger Pigeon

by Donovan

APPEARANCE

The Passenger Pigeon was a migratory bird. It was native to the eastern half of north America from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The Passenger Pigeon was the most numerous bird in the world. In eighteenth and nineteenth century there were billions of them in United States and Canada. The Passenger Pigeon was killed for food. The adult Passenger Pigeon was about 43 centimeters long. It had pinkish - tinted, gray feathers and a long tail. The Passenger Pigeon also had a short black bill and red eyes and feet. The female had similar colors but duller. The female was about an inch smaller than the male Passenger Pigeon. They sounded like the croaking of a wood frogs. They also clucked, shrieked, chattered and cooed.

HABITAT

The Passenger Pigeon was found in the eastern half of North America from Canada to Mexico. It wintered in the southern part of its range and bred in the north, from Nova Scotia west to Montana and Saskatchewan. There were about 3 billion to 5 billion Passenger Pigeon living across eastern North America in the year 1500.

FOOD

During the fall, winter and spring the Passenger Pigeon ate acorns, chestnuts and beechnuts. In the summer time it ate soft foods of many kinds including weed seeds, insects and worms.

WHY EXTINCT

The Passenger Pigeon blackened the sky when they were flying. The Passenger Pigeon fed their babies pigeon milk. The baby pigeon was hunted because they were fat and tasted good. They brought good prices in the market. Sometimes the hunters chopped down trees to get their young birds.

WHAT CAN WE DO

The laws need to be passed to protect animals from hunters. Also we should provide a habitat that is safe. We should protect the young of animals. Governments should stop factories from damping toxic waste in water.

Bibliography

1. Gordon, E. S. Once there Was a Passenger Pigeon New York. Henry Z Walck, Inc., 1976

2. Schorger, A.W. The Passenger Pigeon. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1955.

3. Friedmann, Herbert. "The Passenger Pigeon" World Book Encyclopedia. 1979. Vol. 15.

4. "Passenger Pigeon" Encarta." 1996. CD-ROM.