web analytics

Passenger Pigeon centennial

Posted on Sep 1, 2014

The world’s last Passenger Pigeon, Martha, died at 1PM on September 1, 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo. Once likely the most abundant bird in North America it was effectively extinct in the wild around the turn of the 20th century and even Roger Tory Peterson, born 1908, never saw one. He did illustrate the species for his first field guide in 1934 with the help of museum specimens. Please visit RTPI to see these three Passenger Pigeons on display on our second floor and see Twan’s Meet Your Neighbours photos of them here: http://rtpi.org/passenger-pigeons-and-bird-fest-2014/

DSC_6123a