Nate DiMeo

That's right.

It's impossible to know for sure, but ornithologists tell us there were five billion passenger pigeons in North America at the beginning of the 1800s. That is one out of every five birds. And when they would fly south in the fall and north again in the spring, the birds would literally darken the sky. The flocks would stretch out a mile wide and 300 miles long.

It's impossible to know for sure, but ornithologists tell us there were five billion passenger pigeons in North America at the beginning of the 1800s. That is one out of every five birds. And when they would fly south in the fall and north again in the spring, the birds would literally darken the sky. The flocks would stretch out a mile wide and 300 miles long.

It's impossible to know for sure, but ornithologists tell us there were five billion passenger pigeons in North America at the beginning of the 1800s. That is one out of every five birds. And when they would fly south in the fall and north again in the spring, the birds would literally darken the sky. The flocks would stretch out a mile wide and 300 miles long.

They would take hours, often all day, to fly overhead. You'd wake up in the morning to the sound of approaching birds, and while you ate breakfast, tended your fields all day, brought your livestock in at night or whatever, the flock would still be overhead when you went to bed. The sound must have been incredible.

They would take hours, often all day, to fly overhead. You'd wake up in the morning to the sound of approaching birds, and while you ate breakfast, tended your fields all day, brought your livestock in at night or whatever, the flock would still be overhead when you went to bed. The sound must have been incredible.

They would take hours, often all day, to fly overhead. You'd wake up in the morning to the sound of approaching birds, and while you ate breakfast, tended your fields all day, brought your livestock in at night or whatever, the flock would still be overhead when you went to bed. The sound must have been incredible.

The droppings, the s*** from a couple of million birds would rain down, defoliating whole swaths of forest, making fields fallow. When all those birds would set down in the woods as a layover, it would take years for trees to recover. One nesting site occupied 850 square miles of Wisconsin. There were as many as 136 million birds there at a time. But all of this made them incredibly easy to hunt.

The droppings, the s*** from a couple of million birds would rain down, defoliating whole swaths of forest, making fields fallow. When all those birds would set down in the woods as a layover, it would take years for trees to recover. One nesting site occupied 850 square miles of Wisconsin. There were as many as 136 million birds there at a time. But all of this made them incredibly easy to hunt.

The droppings, the s*** from a couple of million birds would rain down, defoliating whole swaths of forest, making fields fallow. When all those birds would set down in the woods as a layover, it would take years for trees to recover. One nesting site occupied 850 square miles of Wisconsin. There were as many as 136 million birds there at a time. But all of this made them incredibly easy to hunt.

It is said that if you shot a rifle into the air as they flew overhead, one shot could take down 30 birds. They were flying so close that they collide like some sort of horrible highway pilot, and they plummet. As the American human population spread west, the forest started to disappear. And as industrialization and immigration swelled the eastern cities, people needed meat.

It is said that if you shot a rifle into the air as they flew overhead, one shot could take down 30 birds. They were flying so close that they collide like some sort of horrible highway pilot, and they plummet. As the American human population spread west, the forest started to disappear. And as industrialization and immigration swelled the eastern cities, people needed meat.

It is said that if you shot a rifle into the air as they flew overhead, one shot could take down 30 birds. They were flying so close that they collide like some sort of horrible highway pilot, and they plummet. As the American human population spread west, the forest started to disappear. And as industrialization and immigration swelled the eastern cities, people needed meat.

Industrial hunters stepped in. They laid fires and stands of trees to smoke the birds out and kill them. They'd take a single pigeon and sew its eyes up for some reason. Then they'd tie it to a stool so its panic flapping would cause curious flocks to land. Then they'd be trapped and killed. Sometimes they'd soak birdseed in alcohol to get them drunk so they'd be easier to kill.

Industrial hunters stepped in. They laid fires and stands of trees to smoke the birds out and kill them. They'd take a single pigeon and sew its eyes up for some reason. Then they'd tie it to a stool so its panic flapping would cause curious flocks to land. Then they'd be trapped and killed. Sometimes they'd soak birdseed in alcohol to get them drunk so they'd be easier to kill.

Industrial hunters stepped in. They laid fires and stands of trees to smoke the birds out and kill them. They'd take a single pigeon and sew its eyes up for some reason. Then they'd tie it to a stool so its panic flapping would cause curious flocks to land. Then they'd be trapped and killed. Sometimes they'd soak birdseed in alcohol to get them drunk so they'd be easier to kill.

In Petoskey, Michigan in 1878, 50,000 birds were killed every day for five months. They were packed into boxcars and shipped to New York, or Boston, or Providence, or Buffalo, or Newark, or Baltimore. That same year, a different Midwestern supplier shipped another three million passenger pigeons, and the birds started to disappear. The females only laid one egg a year.

In Petoskey, Michigan in 1878, 50,000 birds were killed every day for five months. They were packed into boxcars and shipped to New York, or Boston, or Providence, or Buffalo, or Newark, or Baltimore. That same year, a different Midwestern supplier shipped another three million passenger pigeons, and the birds started to disappear. The females only laid one egg a year.

In Petoskey, Michigan in 1878, 50,000 birds were killed every day for five months. They were packed into boxcars and shipped to New York, or Boston, or Providence, or Buffalo, or Newark, or Baltimore. That same year, a different Midwestern supplier shipped another three million passenger pigeons, and the birds started to disappear. The females only laid one egg a year.

which is a terrible evolutionary strategy. By 1900, the flocks were gone. By 1909, the American Ornithological Society was offering $1,500 to anyone who found a pigeon in the wild. The last known passenger pigeon died in the Cincinnati Zoological Park in 1914. She was stuffed and mounted in the Birds of America exhibit at the Smithsonian. Some years back, she was put into storage.