What Killed Off The Passenger Pigeons?

[sandyRoe]

A question about the New Zealand wildlife suffering at the claws of cats prompted the thought, what changes caused the extinction of Passenger Pigeons in America?

[murraymints]

pie ?..lol..

[emmie]

The Passenger Pigeon or Wild Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) is an extinct North American bird. The species lived in enormous migratory flocks until the early 20th century, when hunting and habitat destruction led to its demise.[2] One flock in 1866 in southern Ontario was described as being 1 mi (1.5 km) wide and 300 mi (500 km) long, took 14 hours to pass, and held in excess of 3.5 billion birds. That number, if accurate, would likely represent a large fraction of the entire population at the time.[3][A][4]

[sandyRoe]

I can see how the Dodos became extinct. They were tasty and couldn't fly. But an entire breed of pigeons?

[Nibble]

Probably, the effects of the "Opening of the West" in the US rush to the Pacific?

The Passenger Pigeon is now extinct. Over hunting, the clearing of forests to make way for agriculture, and perhaps other factors doomed the species. The decline was well under way by the 1850’s.

The last nesting birds were reported in the Great Lakes region in the 1890’s. The last reported individuals in the wild were shot at Babcock, Wisconsin in 1899, and in Pike County, Ohio on March 24, 1900. Some individuals, however, remained in captivity.