Price we paid for industrialization and urbanization

1^st September brings sad memories for bird watcher and bird lovers. On this day that is on 1^st September 1914, the Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) became extinct as the last surviving bird of the colorful native American species of dove died at the Cincinnati Zoo. 

Male Passanger Pigion (courtesy-Wikipidia)

It was once the most abundant bird in North America, and possibly the world. The species went from being one of the most abundant birds in the world during the 19th century to extinction early in the 20th century. At the time, passenger pigeons had one of the largest groups or flocks of any animal, second only to the Rocky Mountain locust. Some reduction in numbers occurred from habitat loss when European settlement led to mass deforestation. Next, pigeon meat was commercialized as a cheap food for slaves and the poor in the 19th century, resulting in hunting on a massive and mechanized scale. A slow decline between about 1800 and 1870 was followed by a catastrophic decline between 1870 and 1890. 

"Men still live who, in their youth, remember pigeons. Trees still live who, in their youth, were shaken by a living wind. But a decade hence only the oldest oaks will remember, and at long last only the hills will know."

Martha, thought to be the world's last passenger pigeon, died on September 1, 1914, at the Cincinnati Zoo. Her body was frozen into a block of ice and sent to the Smithsonian Institution, where it was skinned, dissected, photographed and mounted. Currently, Martha is in the museum's archived collection and not on display. A memorial statue of Martha stands on the grounds of the Cincinnati Zoo.

Remains of the last wild passenger pigeon Martha at Cincinnati Zoo (Courtesy- Wikipidia)

John Herald, a bluegrass singer, wrote a song dedicated to the extinction of the species and Martha, that he titled "Martha (Last of the Passenger Pigeons)".