Long time birdwatcher, just recently discovered your Substack and glad to subscribe. I'm so glad we're not doing this kind of destruction anymore.
Your photo comparison of the Passenger Pigeon and the Mourning Dove early in the post got me wondering -- I assume the Passenger Pigeon was targeted (literally) in part due to size, but it made me wonder if we had any idea of the population size comparisons between that bird and the Mourning Dove and the other pigeon we know well today - the Rock Pigeon. Was it by far the largest population and so therefore the obvious target, and now we are left with the obvious successors? Or maybe something else. I can go and do some more research online but wondered if you had already encountered such data.
Also, I hadn't realized that the "Snow Bird", aka Dark-eyed Junco, had ever been considered as a substitute! I have both the Mourning Dove and the Dark-eyed Junco coming to my feeders daily right now (in Central Ohio), though I expect the juncos will be heading north pretty soon.
Oh, I've got a lot more to say about passenger pigeons! I think the comparison to mourning doves and feral pigeons is an interesting one. There are around 350 million mourning doves in the US, and according to a quick google, around 300-400 million feral pigeons in the world (mourning doves are actually the most hunted bird in the US today, with hunters killing 20-40 million of them annually). This is compared to a rough estimate of 5 billion passenger pigeons. Passenger pigeons weren't just targeted because there were a lot of them, it was mainly because they gathered in such huge numbers, which made hunting them (and raiding their nests for squabs) so terribly efficient. If they had to be hunted one by one, they'd still probably be alive today.
Thanks, didn't know that. I wonder how many species are gathering in such large numbers, maybe the starlings, and those colorful parrots I've seen in south Texas that get together noisily just before sunset.
Everyone thinks there is an "overabundance of an animal" until gross humans get greedy and ruin something mother nature took time nurturing and making. My mom just rescued a white beautiful domestic pigeons from animal friends (pgh pa) that someone just tossed out like trash. The person who found him and took him to animal friends said he wasn't a great flyer and was getting attacked by neighborhood cats (big surprise there). He has a fantastic vet and the vet said "Whatever else this bird has been thru he will have PTSD for awhile...birds are very sensitive and remember a lot". Mourning doves (same family) mate for life and mourn their mates sometimes for wks...they will just sit in the same spot they passed away. So for disgusting humans to shoot something that can hold more feelings than I know a lot of my friends have for their own spouses, is just sick and devil like. I just learned today that parrots are like the #1 most endangered bird on the planet bc of illegal trafficking. Humans really ruin everything. Then there are the % that are FANTASTIC (like Steve Irwins family for one example) and they try to undo what everyone else did wrong. That is a really big job and stressful one. Thank God Steve Irwins kids are starting families. We definitely need more mother nature lovers out there! If ANYONE spent time with any bird...I don't care what bird it even is...youd fall in love with birds, and wonder how the heck anyone could ever do something like that. Birds are the most underrated animals on this planet in my opinion. Plus they are the last link to the dinosaurs that we have left & and everyone loved Dinosaurs at some point in their lifetime. Or maybe u still do!
Thank you for this fascinating piece. In my ignorance, I’d never known the origin of the expression ‘stool pigeon’.
Long time birdwatcher, just recently discovered your Substack and glad to subscribe. I'm so glad we're not doing this kind of destruction anymore.
Your photo comparison of the Passenger Pigeon and the Mourning Dove early in the post got me wondering -- I assume the Passenger Pigeon was targeted (literally) in part due to size, but it made me wonder if we had any idea of the population size comparisons between that bird and the Mourning Dove and the other pigeon we know well today - the Rock Pigeon. Was it by far the largest population and so therefore the obvious target, and now we are left with the obvious successors? Or maybe something else. I can go and do some more research online but wondered if you had already encountered such data.
Also, I hadn't realized that the "Snow Bird", aka Dark-eyed Junco, had ever been considered as a substitute! I have both the Mourning Dove and the Dark-eyed Junco coming to my feeders daily right now (in Central Ohio), though I expect the juncos will be heading north pretty soon.
Thank you.
Oh, I've got a lot more to say about passenger pigeons! I think the comparison to mourning doves and feral pigeons is an interesting one. There are around 350 million mourning doves in the US, and according to a quick google, around 300-400 million feral pigeons in the world (mourning doves are actually the most hunted bird in the US today, with hunters killing 20-40 million of them annually). This is compared to a rough estimate of 5 billion passenger pigeons. Passenger pigeons weren't just targeted because there were a lot of them, it was mainly because they gathered in such huge numbers, which made hunting them (and raiding their nests for squabs) so terribly efficient. If they had to be hunted one by one, they'd still probably be alive today.
Thanks, didn't know that. I wonder how many species are gathering in such large numbers, maybe the starlings, and those colorful parrots I've seen in south Texas that get together noisily just before sunset.
What a sobering story, and so sad that we will never see these birds.
I know this is important history and all but I think I need to skip this one, the headline just broke my heart...next article for sure.
Everyone thinks there is an "overabundance of an animal" until gross humans get greedy and ruin something mother nature took time nurturing and making. My mom just rescued a white beautiful domestic pigeons from animal friends (pgh pa) that someone just tossed out like trash. The person who found him and took him to animal friends said he wasn't a great flyer and was getting attacked by neighborhood cats (big surprise there). He has a fantastic vet and the vet said "Whatever else this bird has been thru he will have PTSD for awhile...birds are very sensitive and remember a lot". Mourning doves (same family) mate for life and mourn their mates sometimes for wks...they will just sit in the same spot they passed away. So for disgusting humans to shoot something that can hold more feelings than I know a lot of my friends have for their own spouses, is just sick and devil like. I just learned today that parrots are like the #1 most endangered bird on the planet bc of illegal trafficking. Humans really ruin everything. Then there are the % that are FANTASTIC (like Steve Irwins family for one example) and they try to undo what everyone else did wrong. That is a really big job and stressful one. Thank God Steve Irwins kids are starting families. We definitely need more mother nature lovers out there! If ANYONE spent time with any bird...I don't care what bird it even is...youd fall in love with birds, and wonder how the heck anyone could ever do something like that. Birds are the most underrated animals on this planet in my opinion. Plus they are the last link to the dinosaurs that we have left & and everyone loved Dinosaurs at some point in their lifetime. Or maybe u still do!