Birds are a common sight in summer. Mourning doves call out their sad “OOOO ah OOO.” Robins skitter across pathways. Hummingbirds visit flowers. Birds and their behaviors seem like such common occurrences that sometimes we don’t notice them. But would we notice if they were gone?
About 100 years ago, two unique bird species were among those that flew across Illinois: the Carolina parakeet and passenger pigeon. Today, no one alive has a memory of these birds. However, they still play an important role. They teach us just what can happen if we don’t protect species.
Carolina parakeet
No, you haven’t been transported to a tropical island. Colorful parrots did once live here in Illinois! Although the name suggests otherwise, the Carolina parakeet flew across the eastern, Midwest and Plains areas of the United States. It was the only parrot native to this country. Imagine big swaths of yellow, green and orange flying across the blue sky!
Their habitat was old-growth forests along rivers and in swamps with large hollow trees. The Carolina parakeet was made for living in trees. They were expert climbers. Scientists believe they used their strong beaks as sort of a third limb to easily climb up tall branches, where they camouflaged amongst green leaves. And the trees would need to be tall to fit an entire flock. These birds, which stood about as tall as a ruler, lived in groups of about 300!
By the late 1800s, seeing such a colorful sight was rare. Populations of both the western and eastern subspecies were shrinking.
Words to know
Abundant: Present in great quantity.
Avian: Relating to birds.
Dwindle: To diminish gradually in size, amount or strength.
Swath: A strip, belt or long area of something.
Although there is some debate, the last official sighting of a wild Carolina parakeet was documented in 1910. Scientists now believe the western subspecies went extinct in the 1910s, while the eastern subspecies was observed in Florida throughout the 1920s and early 1930s.
Inca, the last parakeet living in captivity, died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1918. In 1939, scientists officially declared the bird extinct.
Documentation from this time is scarce, so most of what we know about these birds comes from the specimens and skeletons preserved in museums around the world. No one can say for certain, but scientists believe there were a combination of reasons for their extinction:
Loss of habitat. As more people came to this county, more and more forests were cleared for farmland and fuel. Those tall trees by the river became harder to find.
Overhunting. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, women wanted those colorful feathers for their hats, dresses and other accessories. Others wanted the birds as pets. Farmers treated them as pests who ate growing crops. When one of these colorful creatures died, others from the flock would rush toward the dead, making themselves easy targets.
Disease. Birds flying around farms might have caught avian diseases from chickens as they feasted on farm crops.
Passenger pigeon
Imagine you are outside on a bright, sunny day. Suddenly, it gets dark as a large, black cloud blocks out the light. After what seems like hours, the sun returns as the cloud moves on. As you look up, you notice that cloud wasn’t a cloud at all; it was a flock of passenger pigeons.
The passenger pigeon, or wild pigeon, was once the most abundant bird in North America. It had a population of between 3 billion and 5 billion — a number almost too big to comprehend!
This native bird migrated throughout the Midwestern and eastern forests of North America in search of food and roosting and nesting sites. In fact, this behavior earned them their scientific name Ectopistes (wandering) migratorius (migrating). Their common name is derived from the French word “passage,” meaning passing by.
Like the Carolina parakeet, the passenger pigeon traveled in large numbers. Flocks were made up of hundreds, even thousands of birds. That’s like going on a field trip with your entire elementary school. And the middle school in your neighborhood. And the high school.
Throughout the 19th century, Native peoples and settlers alike noted the size and noise level of these flocks. These large groups needed large forests with large trees to support them. It was not uncommon for a single tree to host dozens of nests or for branches to break under the weight of so many birds.
If there were that many pigeons, how are they all gone? This answer is no mystery: The species was hunted to extinction.
Immense flocks meant it was easy to target many birds at once. This made things easy for farmers who saw them as pests and professional hunters who caught the pigeons for sport and cheap food. (Pigeon pot pie, anyone?) Documented hunts in the late 1800s claimed tens of thousands of birds were killed every day for a few months.
These pigeons that had always existed in large flocks could not survive with their dwindling numbers. The last official sighting of a wild passenger pigeon was documented in 1900. Captive individuals disappeared in the next decade until it was just Martha. After she died at her home at Cincinnati Zoo in September 1914, the species was officially extinct.
In the first two decades of the 20th century, the United States government passed laws that made it a crime to capture, hunt, sell, poach or kill a migratory bird, including its nests, eggs and feathers. These laws came too late for the Carolina parakeet and passenger pigeon, but they have helped protect other birds you see today.
As you walk around this summer, observe all the different birds. Take a moment to appreciate their presence in your neighborhood, park or preserves.
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