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The Abundance of Passenger Pigeons
- Passenger pigeons were so numerous in the 1800s that their flocks darkened the sky, stretching a mile wide and 300 miles long.
- These flocks would take hours, sometimes a full day, to pass overhead.
Environmental Impact of Passenger Pigeons
- The sheer number of passenger pigeons had significant environmental impact, with their droppings defoliating forests and nesting sites covering vast areas.
- One nesting site in Wisconsin spanned 850 square miles and held an estimated 136 million birds.
Hunting and the Decline of Passenger Pigeons
- Hunting practices, including shooting rifles into the air and trapping birds, decimated passenger pigeon populations.
- Industrial-scale hunting supplied millions of pigeons to eastern cities, contributing to their decline.