[Nhcoll-l] 2014 marks centenary of extinction of the PassengerPigeon

[Steve Halford]

Consider the state of photography in the mid to late 19th century.  They
needed long exposures of stationary subjects.  (There's a reason why so
many surviving Civil War photographs are of the dead on battlefields.)  A
flock of live passenger pigeons would appear as nothing but a blur, not
worth the photographer's trouble to even try to get a picture.
Steve.

Steve Halford (halford at sfu.ca)
Museum Technician (Retired)
Department of Biological Sciences
Simon Fraser University



On Mon, Dec 2, 2013 at 8:49 AM, Steve Sullivan
<ssullivan at naturemuseum.org>wrote:

> This is an interesting point…  On the one hand it points out (once again)
> the exceptional value of the specimens we maintain in our collections.  On
> the other hand, it makes us reconsider what ephemera we keep versus what we
> throw away and how we choose to document the seemingly blatantly obvious or
> commonplace.  While photographers lugged heavy equipment to civil war
> battlefields and similarly difficult places, we have almost no pictures of
> wild passenger pigeons.  So far only 2 pictures of live or recently live
> birds not from the Whitman flock have been found and will be published next
> year in Joel Greenberg’s forthcoming book.  People on this list  may be in
> a position to find some that we have not been able to.  Please do forward
> any leads you have.
>
> --Steve
>
> Steven M. Sullivan  |  Senior Curator of Urban Ecology
>
> The Chicago Academy of Sciences and its Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
>
>
>
> Museum|2430 North Cannon Drive|Chicago Illinois 60614|naturemuseum.org<http://www.naturemuseum.org/>
>
> Collections|4001 North Ravenswood Ave.|Chicago Illinois 60613|
> projectsquirrel.org
>
> P 708-937-6253 | F 773-755-5199 | ssullivan at naturemuseum.org
>
>
>
> *A century of memories and lessons from the Passenger Pigeon at
> passengerpigeon.org <http://passengerpigeon.org/>*
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:
> nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] *On Behalf Of *Mary Beth Prondzinski
> *Sent:* Monday, December 02, 2013 7:41 AM
> *To:* 'Ellen Paul'; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> *Subject:* Re: [Nhcoll-l] 2014 marks centenary of extinction of the
> PassengerPigeon
>
>
>
> And why are there no photos of this pillage?!  None...
>
>
>
> Mary Beth Prondzinski
>
> Director of Collections
>
> Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium
>
> 1302 Main Street
>
> St. Johnsbury, VT 05819
>
> (802) 748-2372 x110
>
> mprondzinski at fairbanksmuseum.org
>
>
>
> http://fairbanksmuseum.org/
>
> http://vermonttv.net/
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> *From:* nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [
> mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>]
> *On Behalf Of *Ellen Paul
> *Sent:* Tuesday, November 26, 2013 6:29 PM
> *To:* nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> *Subject:* [Nhcoll-l] 2014 marks centenary of extinction of the
> PassengerPigeon
>
> The timing of the events has to be taken into consideration. Audubon wrote
> that in 1813. A population that vast could take a fair amount of hunting
> pressure. However, the huge slaughters by market hunters continued into the
> 1850s and 1860s, facilitated by rail access to the markets.
>
> From David Blockstein's species account in the Birds of North America:
>
>
>  “As settlement advanced, as railroads were built, spanning the
> continent, as telegraph lines followed them, as markets developed for the
> birds, an army of people, hunters, settlers, netters and Indians, found in
> the pigeons a considerable part of their means of subsistence, and the
> birds were constantly pursued and killed whenever they appeared,*at all
> seasons of the year* ” (Forbush 1927<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib048>:
> 67).
>
> In 1842, 3,000 live pigeons were transported by rail from Michigan to
> Boston. In 1851, an estimated 1,800,000 pigeons were sent to New York City
> from a nesting in n. New York (Schorger 1955<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib114>:
> 145). By the time the Civil War ended, most of the U.S. east of the
> Mississippi was covered by railroad. Only a handful of nesting colonies was
> too far from rail or ship for market exploitation. Even a nesting in 1881
> in Oklahoma, 176 km from the railroad, was pillaged by commercial trappers (Anon.
> 1881<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib003>
> , Judy 1881<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib076>
> ).
>
> Often hundreds of thousands of adults and squabs were shipped from a
> single nesting. Large numbers of birds were destroyed by locals or
> otherwise killed but not transported. A million birds could be lost at a
> single nesting. Yet even these large numbers of birds killed were probably
> not sufficient to cause the precipitous decline in the population.
> Overhunting did not exterminate the Passenger Pigeon as is commonly
> believed. Rather, the disturbance of the nesting colonies led the birds to
> abandon the nestings prematurely (Blockstein and Tordoff 1985<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib020>).
> This, coupled with slaughter of nestlings as well as adults, largely
> eliminated replacement of the population.
>
> The simultaneous destruction of the forests of the East obviously played a
> big role.
>
> Again, from Blockstein:
>
>
>  Deforestation was also a major factor in the decline because it reduced
> the area available to the pigeons and thus reduced the opportunities for
> nesting and roosting colonies. Being nomadic, Passenger Pigeons needed
> enormous areas to find some conditions suitable for nesting (Askins 2000<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib007>).
> Because nesting colonies formed only where there was sufficient mast, the
> reduction in the forest meant that in some years there was no nesting at
> all. Forbush (1927<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib048>:
> 66) agreed that the decrease “was due in part to the destruction of the
> forests, particularly the beech woods. . . .” Another nineteenth-century
> technology, the portable saw mill introduced in 1870s, sped the destruction
> of what had once been a completely forested landscape. By 1880, about 80%
> of the original forest of New England had been cleared (Irland 1982<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib075>).
> Deforestation in the major nesting area of north-central Pennsylvania began
> in 1872, but did not reach full speed until 1892 (French 1919<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib050>:
> 110). Michigan was still well wooded in 1883 (Rand McNally and Co. 1883<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib104>),
> although it was being logged rapidly, particularly for its pines, which
> would have had less impact on the Passenger Pigeon than logging of
> deciduous trees.
>
> Deforestation, which occurred from east to west, reduced the available
> habitat. In the early eighteenth century, Wilson (1812<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib133>:
> 109) noted that although the species was sometimes very numerous in the
> Atlantic states, it never appeared in “such unparalleled multitudes” of
> “congregated millions” as in the “western forests” of Ohio, Kentucky, and
> Indiana. The last recorded mass nesting in Massachusetts was in 1850s (Forbush
> 1927<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib048>),
> in New York in the 1870s. From 1870 on, almost all of the nesting colonies
> recorded were in the forested Alleghenies of n. Pennsylvania and the Great
> Lake states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and, to a lesser extent, Minnesota (Mershon
> 1907<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib090>).
> These were the areas where intact original forest remained (Williams 1989<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib132>).
> In 1892, Bendire (1892<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib013>:
> 132–133) wrote, “breeding range . . . principally in thinly settled and
> wooded region along our northern border . . . as well as . . . Canada, and
> north at least to Hudson Bay. Isolated and scattering pairs probably still
> breed in New England States, northern New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan,
> Wisconsin, Minnesota, and a few other localities further south, but the
> enormous breeding colonies . . . are . . . things of the past, probably
> never to be seen again. In fact, the extermination . . . has progressed so
> rapidly during the last twenty years that it now looks as if their total
> extermination might be accomplished in the present century.”
>
> Schorger (1955<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib114>)
> and Blockstein and Tordoff (1985<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib020>)
> argued that the extent of mast-bearing forest in the 1870s and 1880s was
> sufficient to support the population. However it apparently was not enough
> to allow nesting colonies every year. After another 3 decades, there was
> essentially no sufficient forest left. But the pigeons were gone before the
> last deciduous forests. “The destruction of the forest was not yet
> complete; for, although great tracts of land were cleared, there remained
> and still remain vast regions more or less covered by coppice growth
> sufficient to furnish hosts of pigeons with food, and the cultivation of
> land and the raising of grain provided new sources of food supply.
> Therefore, while the reduction of the forest area in the east was a factor
> in the diminution of the pigeons, we cannot attribute their extermination
> to the destruction of the forest” (Forbush 1927<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib048>:
> 66).
>
>
>
> Once the population reached a level of thousands, rather than billions,
> the species was unable to recover. Several factors may have been involved.
> Persecution continued, nearly to the end. In spring 1883, all of the young
> were reportedly taken. One man was said to have taken 60,000 and several
> others 10,000 young each (E. S. Bond in Anon. 1883<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib004>).
> Over 5,000 birds were reportedly killed at a roost in Missouri the
> following winter (Anon. 1884<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib005>).
> Over 1,000 carcasses were shipped to Boston in 1891 (Editor 1891 inSchorger
> 1955<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib114>:
> 218). Market-hunting continued until at least 1893, and shooting was
> reported to the end.
>
> Blockstein and Tordoff (1985<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib020>)
> hypothesized that the species slowly faded away throughout its last decade.
> By 1892, “the majority [were] no longer breeding in colonies, but
> scattering around the country and breeding in isolated pairs” (Bendire
> 1892<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib013>:
> 133). Since the species lacked the numbers for predator satiation through
> mass nesting that had been responsible for its success and had no
> antipredator adaptations for nesting, such as nest concealment, and since
> it laid only a single egg, nest success must have been insufficient to
> maintain the population.
>
> In contrast, Bucher (1992<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib026>:
> 25) argued that the decline in numbers circumvented the social facilitation
> necessary for the flocks to find enough mast for a successful nesting. In
> his view, once a population went below a minimum viable size, “the
> remaining individuals were unable to find food patches at [an] adequate
> rate.” He felt it “likely that a whole flock may have ‘missed’ good spots
> when moving north and starved or at least failed to produce enough
> offspring to compensate for adult mortality.” However, a smaller flock
> would need less food to sustain itself, and it seems likely that a pair
> could have found enough food (mast and crops) to eat and probably even to
> breed.
>
> Both arguments are based on the inability of a small population to
> maintain itself after numbers were insufficient to achieve the evolved
> strategy essential to the success of the species—predator satiation (Blockstein
> and Tordoff 1985<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib020>)
> or social facilitation of foraging (Bucher 1992<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib026>).
> The unknowable true cause may have had elements of each. However, it is
> known that the pigeons continued to nest in colonies, even as late as
> 1885–1887 (Schorger 1955<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/611/articles/species/611/biblio/bib114>:
> 216). After that, there was at least some success in nesting in very small
> groups or even lone pairs (as always had been the case with a minuscule
> proportion of the population). The last birds collected in 1899 in
> Wisconsin and in 1900 in Ohio were both immatures.
>
>
>
>
>
>  Ellen Paul
>
> Executive Director
>
> The Ornithological Council
>
> Email: ellen.paul at verizon.net
>
> "Providing Scientific Information about Birds" <http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET>
>
> *http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET" <http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET>*
>
> On 11/26/13, 6:11 PM, Rowe, Timothy B wrote:
>
> I'm quite glad to see that you have brought this portentous anniversary
> brought into the spotlight.
>
> But what exactly do you mean by "human persecution"?
>
> Audubon himself reported that the Passenger pigeon was breeding at a pace
> that mitigated human hunting pressures.  However, he warned that cutting
> the old growth forests was something that could pressure them into
> extinction.  There is ample literature to show that, state-by-state, as the
> portable saw mills took down the old forests, loss of adequate food and
> breeding environment was the proximate and immediate cause of extinction,
> not over-hunting.
>
> But take comfort in the fact that even great luminaries like Jared Diamond
> and E. O. Wilson fell into the same trap - implying that human overkill was
> the source.
>
> Here is why it is important to get this diagnosis correct: a hunting ban
> would not have saved the Passenger pigeon, but a logging ban just might
> have.
>
> The causes of extinction are subtle - all the more reason to use this
> anniversary to promote research on this most critical topic.
>
> Tim
>
> Timothy Rowe
> Director, Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory
> The University of Texas at Austin
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> *From:* nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu
> <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>on behalf of Steve Sullivan
> <ssullivan at naturemuseum.org> <ssullivan at naturemuseum.org>
> *Sent:* Monday, November 25, 2013 11:44 AM
> *To:* nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> *Subject:* [Nhcoll-l] 2014 marks centenary of extinction of the Passenger
> Pigeon
>
>
>
> This month many of our thoughts are turning towards turkeys but nearly a
> century ago we were thinking about another bird—the Passenger Pigeon.  2014
> is the centenary of the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon, a species that
> once numbered in the billions; flocks would darken the sky as they passed;
> 1 in 4 birds on the continent were Passenger Pigeons.  50 years of human
> persecution directly resulted in their extinction.  This astonishing loss
> stimulated the passage of several important wildlife protection laws
> including the migratory bird treaty act and the Lacy act.
>
> Project Passenger Pigeon is a movement to commemorate this anniversary and
> use it not only as an opportunity to familiarize people with this
> remarkable species, but also to raise awareness of current issues related
> to human-caused extinction, explore connections between humans and the
> natural world, and inspire people to become more involved in building a
> sustainable relationship with other species.
>
> We hope that you and your institution will join over 170 institutions
> throughout the world to commemorate this anniversary and use it to promote
> the conservation issues that are most relevant to your region.  Resources
> of all kinds—a book, exhibit panels, classroom lessons, a speaker’s bureau,
> and more are available at http://passengerpigeon.org/ .   Attached is a
> letter that outlines these in more detail or just visit the website.
>
> Yours,
>
> Steve
>
> Steven M. Sullivan  |  Senior Curator of Urban Ecology
>
> The Chicago Academy of Sciences and its Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
>
>
>
> Museum|2430 North Cannon Drive|Chicago Illinois 60614|naturemuseum.org<http://www.naturemuseum.org/>
>
> Collections|4001 North Ravenswood Ave.|Chicago Illinois 60613|
> projectsquirrel.org
>
> P 708-937-6253 | F 773-755-5199 | ssullivan at naturemuseum.org
>
>
>
> *A century of memories and lessons from the Passenger Pigeon at
> passengerpigeon.org <http://passengerpigeon.org/>*
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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