[Nhcoll-l] 2014 marks centenary of extinction of the Passenger Pigeon

[Steve Sullivan]

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 <http://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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