by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 11, 2024 | Bird Spike, Pigeon Droppings, Pigeon Predators, Pigeons, Pigeons in the News, Raccoons
Wildlife rehabilitation calls for city to ban toxins that poison Saskatoon pigeons “Basically if you can imagine a bird having seizures,” said Jan Shadick, Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation executive director, describing a pigeon’s painful death after eating poisoned corn. “It’s an unfortunate way to die and it’s an unfortunate use of pigeon control methods within the city.”
The most common poison used is Avitrol. Shadick said she wants to see the city ban its use, or at least require the area it’s scattered around to be labelled, like when spraying pesticides. She said her wildlife rehabilitation sees hundreds of poisoned pigeons — and some other birds — a year, but they’re also seeing it punch up the food chain. “Dogs and cats have been demonstrated to have eaten these poison pigeons and died from it,” she said. “A crow would eat it, a raven would eat it, numerous birds would eat it and it was open to anybody who wanted a free lunch. A squirrel could get a hold of it,” explained owner Jason Hiltz. Instead, he said the company uses deterrents like nets and pigeon spikes.
Two years ago, the City of Saskatoon banned the use of poisoned corn according to Shadick, but only on city property. Shadick said it hasn’t made a difference. She said while most poisons to kill birds can only be bought by licensed professionals, some companies sell almost identical products to anyone online. “The money that people are currently spending on putting out poisoned corn could be spent putting out birth control corn,” she said, explaining using birth control is a more humane version of pigeon population control.
Pigeon Patrol
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Canada’s top wholesaler for bird deterrent products for twelve consecutive years.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at https://www.pigeonpatrol.ca/
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by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 11, 2024 | Bird Netting, Bird Spike, Bird Spikes, Pigeon Droppings, Pigeon Spikes
Canadian police cleared a suspected Chinese spy pigeon after eight months’ detention and released it into the wild Tuesday, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
The pigeon’s ordeal began in May when it was captured near a port in Mumbai with two rings tied to its legs, carrying words that looked like Chinese.
Police suspected it was involved in espionage and took it in, later sending it to Mumbai’s Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital for Animals.
Eventually, it turned out the pigeon was an open-water racing bird from Taiwan that had escaped and made its way to India. With police permission, the bird was transferred to the Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, whose doctors set it free.
It’s not the first time a bird has come under police suspicion in India.
In 2020, police in Indian-controlled Kashmir released a pigeon belonging to a Pakistani fisherman after a probe found that the bird, which had flown across the heavily militarized border between the nuclear-armed nations, was not a spy.
In 2016, another pigeon was taken into custody after it was found with a note that threatened Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Pigeon Patrol
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Canada’s top wholesaler for bird deterrent products for twelve consecutive years.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at https://www.pigeonpatrol.ca/
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by Pigeon Patrol | Nov 7, 2023 | Bird Spike, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons, Pigeons in the News, Raccoons, Sparrows, UltraSonic Bird Control
TORONTO – A pigeon has been stealing poppies from the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and making a nest out of the flowers in the alcove of a stained glass window.
“Each day the pigeon has been flying down… to steal poppies, carefully crafting a nest in the lead-up to Remembrance Day in an alcove above the stained-glass window of a wounded Australian soldier,” the website for the Australian War Memorial reads.
The poignancy of the bird using the unusual nest materials is not lost on the Memorial’s staff, as the website explores the history of soldiers using pigeons during wartime.
“Between 1942 and 1943, pigeon fanciers across the country gave some 13,500 trained pigeons to the army for signals use purposes,” the website says. “There are lots of stories of pigeons valiantly going forward and saving people’s lives.”
Source
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird
deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Pigeon Patrol
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal-friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Bird Gel, and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Canada’s top wholesaler for bird deterrent products for twelve consecutive years.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at https://www.pigeonpatrol.ca/
Bird Gone, Pigeon Gone, Pigeon problems, pigeon spikes, 1-877-4NO-BIRD, 4-S Gel, Bird Control, Pigeon Control, bird repellent, Bird Spikes, sonic bird repellent, stainless steel bird spikes, bird spikes Vancouver, Ultra Sonic Bird Control, Bird Netting, Plastic Bird Spikes, Canada bird spike deterrents, Pigeon Pests, B Gone Pigeon, Pigeon Patrol, pest controller, pest control operator, pest control technician, Pigeon Control Products, humane pigeon spikes, pigeon deterrents, pigeon traps, Pigeon repellents, Sound & Laser Deterrents, wildlife control, raccoon, skunk, squirrel deterrent, De-Fence Spikes, Dragons Den, Pigeon, Pigeon Patrol, Pigeons Roosting, Vancouver Pigeon Control, Bird Spikes, Bird Control, Bird Deterrent, Pigeon Deterrent, Surrey Pigeon Control, Pest, Seagull deterrent Vancouver Pigeon Blog, Birds Inside Home De-fence, Pigeon Nesting, Bird Droppings, Pigeon Dropping, woodpecker control, Keep The Birds Away, Birds/rats, seagull, pigeon, woodpecker, dove, sparrow, pidgeon control, pidgeon problem, pidgeon control, flying rats, pigeon Problems, bird netting, bird gel, bird spray, bird nails, bird guard, Pigeon control, Bird deterrents, Pigeon deterrents, Bird control, solutions, Pigeon prevention, Pigeon repellent, Bird proofing, Pest bird management, Pigeon spikes, Bird netting, Humane bird control, Bird exclusion, Urban bird control, Anti-roosting devices, Pigeon removal, Bird barriers
by Pigeon Patrol | Nov 7, 2023 | Bird Spike, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons, Pigeons in the News, Raccoons, Sparrows, UltraSonic Bird Control
Rain gutters are among the most heavily exposed parts of your home. Weather, pests, and constant use affect their integrity. In fact, many animals make gutters their home, given the space and debris that enters it. Specifically, birds often nest in rain gutters for these reasons. Fortunately, here are some effective ways to get rid of birds’ nests in your gutters.
Gutter Guards
The greatest bird deterrent for your yard is a gutter guard. Gutter guards attach to rain gutters to prevent debris and pests from entering. This reduces clogs, cracks, or other issues from constant use. They also prevent birds from nesting. Aluminum guards click into place over your rain gutters with micro-mesh technology that blocks twigs, leaves, or other nesting materials from entering. Birds will fly away into new spots, leaving your gutters clean and nest-free.
Bird Repellent
Similarly, buy bird repellent to ward off these creatures. Like bug spray, bird repellents are chemical sprays or gels designed to disperse large flocks of birds. Many different repellents exist depending on the bird, with goose, pigeon, or other fowl in mind. Eco-repellents also exist and are water-based sprays to avoid harming the birds.
Bird Spikes
While it sounds extreme, bird spikes are perfectly legal and useful in dire situations. Any frustrated homeowner may consider them as a fail-safe last resort. Ultimately, bird spikes are long, needle-like rods that prevent birds from perching, roosting, defecating, or mating. Bird spikes are predominantly used for larger birds, like pigeons, seagulls, or crows, but they can be used for any other birds as well. Still, leaves and other debris can clog bird spikes. Place these horizontally on your gutters to prevent roosting.
Predator Decoys
Birds are simple creatures, meaning bird decoys are one of the best ways to get rid of birds’ nests in your gutters. These are life-sized models of common predators, like hawks and owls. Predator decoys are a humane non-lethal solution for deterring birds. Other deterrents, like holographic tape and scaring balloons, also exist. These products have been shown to work and will scare away any unwanted flying pests.
Source
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird
deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Pigeon Patrol
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal -friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Canada’s top wholesaler for bird deterrent products for twelve consecutive years.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at https://www.pigeonpatrol.ca/
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by Pigeon Patrol | Nov 7, 2023 | Bird Spike, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons, Pigeons in the News, Raccoons, Sparrows, UltraSonic Bird Control
Pigeons like to land, roost, nest, and make a mess of your roof and they’re not easy to get rid of. Persistence, bird deterrents, and bird exclusion is the key.
Get rid of pigeons on the roof by removing food and water
Remove all food and water sources and never feed the pigeons! In addition, don’t let your neighbors feed the pigeons. The pigeons can eat at your neighbors and nest on your roof!
Pigeons mainly like to eat seeds and grains such as oats, wheat, corn, cereal, sorghum, rice, beans, barley, millet, peas, and sunflower. They also like to eat food scraps left behind by people, including bread crumbs and popcorn. Birdseed is their favorite because it contains a variety of seeds and grains.
When grains or seeds aren’t available pigeons will eat fruit, greens, and occasionally insects, earthworms, and snails. They especially like apples, grapes, berries, lettuce, spinach, and sprouted seeds.
Pigeons need a constant water source. If water isn’t readily available they will leave to find a more suitable place to live. They can find water in birdbaths, gutters, pools, decorative water fountains, puddles, ponds, streams, and even leaves after a rain storm.
Easy to use deterrents to get rid of pigeons on the roof
Aluminum foil, bird deterrent tape, shiny Mylar balloons, wind propelled shiny spinning objects, and plastic decoy scare owls are scary objects to pigeons. Place scary objects on the roof, under the eves, or on the patio. Pigeons don’t like or feel comfortable with scary objects next to their nesting area. They would rather live in a more peaceful environment. One thing to remember, when installing scary objects, is to move them around on a regular basis. Objects that stay in one position don’t scare pigeons.
Wind chimes may deter pigeons. You can give it a try. Pigeons have sensitive hearing and the noise from wind chimes can actually hurt their ears. Pigeons don’t particularly like to nest where loud noises come and go.
Sticky bird gel can also deter pigeons. Apply the sticky gel to your roof where the pigeons are landing and roosting. The gel will make the area uncomfortable for the pigeons to roost.
Metal bird spikes to get rid of pigeons on the roof
Metal anti bird perching spikes can be effective in the right circumstance. They can work pretty well depending on the location you put them. Install them on rooftop edges, ledges, chimneys, and anywhere you see the pigeons land, roost, or nest. Metal bird spikes are mostly maintenance free and can be a permanent solution to deter pigeons from your roof.
Metal anti-perching spikes are harder to install and are not aesthetically appealing.
Wire screens or mesh to get rid of pigeons on the roof
Exclusion is the best solution to pigeon problems in alcoves, around chimneys, under solar panels, on vents, and many other places on the roof. Exclusion with wire bird screen and mesh do offer a permanent solution to pigeon nesting problems.
Our affiliate company, deals with pigeons nesting underneath solar panels on a daily basis. Solar panels are generally raised 5-12 inches above shingled or tiled roofs, thus creating a void between the panel and the roof. Pigeons can easily go underneath the panel to nest, poop, and make a noticeable and destructive mess. Most, if not all, rooftops that have solar panels need to have pigeons excluded from getting under the solar panels.
Installing wire bird screens or mesh can be difficult and hazardous. It requires being on the roof with tools, a lot of bending over (which is physically demanding), cutting the wire to the proper dimensions, and stapling or screwing on the wire. It is not advised for a home or business owner to install wire screens or mesh because it isn’t safe. You can fall off the roof and get seriously injured or die. To use this method, please hire a professional bird control company.
Bird netting to get rid of pigeons on the roof
If your roof is large and flat, bird netting is an excellent method to use to keep pigeons off your roof. It physically blocks the birds from the roof. If the birds can’t get on the roof, they can’t roost or nest. Bird netting is an exclusion method primarily used for large commercial bird and pigeon control.
A professional bird control operator should install bird netting. If not installed correctly the pigeons can still land on the area and get trapped, as well as other birds. This is cruel. Please hire a professional bird control company for bird netting. It will cost money but it is the safest and most humane way to have bird netting installed.
Remove bird nesting materials and droppings
It is important to remove all pigeon nesting and feces prior to excluding pigeons. Nesting materials and droppings left on the roof will continue to cause damage.
If the roof has a pitch, using a power washer is generally the best way to get rid of pigeon waste. Put a tarp on the ground next to the roof to catch the debris as it is rinsed off the roof. It will be much easier to clean up the pigeon feces on the ground if it is contained on a tarp. Wear a mask to prevent inhaling fumes from pigeon feces and wet the feces down before rinsing off. Histoplasmosis is zoonotic disease that can be found in pigeon feces. Zoonotic diseases are caused by harmful germs like viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi that are spread between animals and people. (CDC 2017)
If the roof is flat, you will have to wet the roof down (to prevent spreading contaminants and disease through the air), then rake and sweep up the pigeon waste prior to rinsing. Again, wear a mask to prevent inhaling fumes from pigeon feces.
Please be careful or better yet, call a professional. Using a power washer on the roof can be slippery and dangerous. Inhaling noxious pigeon feces can cause disease – it is a biohazard.
Importance of discouraging pigeons from nesting on your roof
Pigeons spread disease. There are over 60 diseases birds and their droppings can carry. Some of the diseases from pigeon droppings include salmonella, toxoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, St Louis encephalitis, E.coli, and more. In addition, fungus can grow in pigeon droppings which can cause histoplasmosis. Histoplasmosis is a respiratory disease that may be fatal. Pigeons are also carriers of pests including fleas, mites, ticks, and lice as well as West Nile virus. All of these diseases can pose a serious threat to human health.
Property damage is a big concern with pigeon nesting and droppings. Nests can clog gutters, ventilation pipes, chimneys, and damage electrical equipment. Damaged electrical wires from pigeon nests can even lead to fires. Pigeon droppings are very acidic. The droppings can actually eat away at the roof structure and cause roof leakage.
Pigeon droppings are unsightly. Nobody likes to see or walk on pigeon droppings.
People can slip and fall where pigeon droppings accumulate. When pigeon feces are fresh or rained on it is slippery.
Call a professional
Installing wire bird spikes, wire screens, wire mesh, or bird netting is difficult and hazardous. People can, and do, fall off roofs. People who fall off roofs get seriously injured and even die. It is best to call a professional bird control company when using these methods. Companies that specialize in removing and excluding bird pests (like pigeons) have the know how and safety equipment to get rid of pigeons in a safe and efficient manner from rooftops, alcoves, solar panels, chimneys, window sills, and other areas.
Source
Pigeon Patrol
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal -friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Canada’s top wholesaler for bird deterrent products for twelve consecutive years.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at https://www.pigeonpatrol.ca/
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by Pigeon Patrol | Oct 26, 2023 | Bird Spike, Pigeon Predators, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons, Pigeons in the News, Raccoons, Sparrows, UltraSonic Bird Control
Why do species die out? This is the overarching question being asked by many leading researchers. Knowing more about what leads to a species’ becoming extinct could enable us to do something about it. The passenger pigeon is a famous example and the species has been studied extensively.
The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was once found in huge numbers in North America. Records tell of passing flocks that darkened the skies for several days at a time. The species may have peaked at five billion individuals. A more conservative estimate is three billion.
Within a short time, the species disappeared completely.
“Given the huge size of the population, it’s simply amazing that the species disappeared so quickly,” says Tom Gilbert.
Gilbert is a professor at the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for GeoGenetics, but he also has a part-time position as an adjunct professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
The human role
The history of the passenger pigeon is interesting, partly because it can tell us something about how and why species become extinct.
Native Americans also relied on passenger pigeons for food. But at least in parts of the passenger pigeons’ range, people had learned to harvest the species at a sustainable level that didn’t threaten to eradicate it.
It was common in some parts of North America to only eat young pigeons that were hunted at night, since this did not seem to scare away the adult birds or prevent them from re-nesting.
But starting around 1500, a more aggressive variant of humans came to the continent with the arrival of Europeans. The hunt for passenger pigeons grew and culminated in a massive hunt for the species throughout the 1800s, before the species finally collapsed and disappeared.
So were the Europeans then really the ones to blame for the collapse?
Already headed to oblivion?
In 2014, a study in published in the scientific journal PNAS strongly suggested that humans were simply the final straw in destroying a species that was already vulnerable and headed to oblivion.
The researchers asserted that despite their enormous numbers, the passenger pigeons were already in trouble. The population of the species varied greatly, similar to lemmings, but over a longer period of time.
When the Europeans arrived, the species was already in a strong decline. The population was plummeting long before Europeans arrived, and perhaps Europeans even contributed to a short-term increase in numbers.
Studies of the genetic variation of the species using an investigative method called PSMC formed the background for these assertions. And now we have to concentrate a bit.
From one to many
All of an individual’s genes are called a genome. You have a genome, your mom has her own genome, your dog has one and the neighbour’s cat has yet another. These can be broken down into chromosomes and genes and base pairs, but you only have a single genome.
So, all of your chromosomes and genes are found in this one genome, but at the same time this genome is unique to just you and only you. Unless, that is, you have an identical twin or are a termite or belong to another species where the individuals are largely identical clones. (In the last case, it’s remarkable that you can read this.)
Here is the crux of the matter:
The PSMC method can use the information in the genes of a single individual of a species to map the history of the species.
You should therefore be able to see how the species developed over many generations, and estimate how many individuals there were at any given time, all based on a single genome.
Humans partially off the hook
Using this method, researchers found that the number of passenger pigeons was in free fall even before the arrival of the Europeans.
Although the species might not have become extinct, it would have shrunk significantly in any case, maybe to only a few hundred thousand individuals.
People were just the final factor in their demise. We may have pushed the passenger pigeons off the cliff, but the species was already on its way there.
So — according to the researchers behind the study in PNAS — it wasn’t just the Europeans’ fault.
It sounds almost too good to be true that you can come up with something so definitive based on information from just one or a few individuals. And in this case it is — at least if we’re to believe a new study that has recently been published in the journal Science.
Ineffective for passenger pigeons
The problem is that the PSMC method can’t be used on passenger pigeons. The new research in Science provides completely different results.
Leading molecular biologist Beth Shapiro is the main author of the Science article, and Tom Gilbert is one of the study’s contributors.
PSMC is based on the assumption that genetic variations occur relatively evenly all along the chromosomes that constitute the genome. That is, genetic changes are equally likely to occur at the ends of a chromosome as in the middle. But this turns out not to be the case for this species.
“Passenger pigeons don’t have the variation patterns that we’d expect, because of the strong selection on genes that appear to have been important throughout the species’ history. So it doesn’t work to use PSMC in this case,” said Gilbert.
In passenger pigeons, most of the genetic diversity was found at the ends of the chromosome. The middle of the chromosome showed little variation from one generation to the next as a result of the selection on these genes.
This fact may not sound revolutionary, but it yields completely different results if you try to read the history of the species based on the genome of a single individual.
You have to take into account that variations are greatest in certain parts of the chromosome rather than evenly distributed throughout. This makes the PSMC method unusable in this context.
Used another method
The researchers behind the article in Science didn’t use the PSMC method. Instead, they used mitochondrial DNA from 41 passenger pigeons as their starting point. Now we have to concentrate again.
Your DNA is not your only inheritance. Mitochondrial DNA is a distinct, separate inheritance found in certain cells called mitochondria.
Regular DNA is a combination of the inheritance from your father and mother. But mitochondrial DNA is only transmitted from your mother. Variations in mitochondrial DNA also occur due to mutations, and happen relatively consistently over time.
This is a different point of departure for understanding how a species develops over time, and the results can be quite different from those generated using the PSMC method.
In addition, the study presented in Science analysed the entire genomes from four passenger pigeons and compared them with two genomes from band-tailed pigeons (Patagioenas fasciata), one of the closest relatives of the passenger pigeon.
The final result was that the new study ended up with completely different answers about the passenger pigeons and why the species met its demise.
Genetic diversity
The new study is interesting for several reasons. It tells us about the genetic diversity of the passenger pigeon, but also supports an entirely different explanation for the species’ extinction.
Scientists previously believed that the larger the population of a species is, the more genetically diverse it will be. But this theory has turned out to be wrong, as the recent passenger pigeon research has shown.
According to the article in Science, the large population size appears to have enabled passenger pigeons to adapt and evolve more quickly and thus remove harmful mutations.
In species with fewer individuals, chance can cause a less beneficial mutation to persist, but chance plays less of a role in species with greater numbers of individuals.
“Mutations that provide a major evolutionary benefit would spread rapidly,” says Gilbert.
The fact that beneficial mutations became incredibly dominant so quickly simply led to the disappearance of other genetic variants.
This in turn led to the genetic diversity in the passenger pigeon being surprisingly low in relation to the number of individuals. This may have made the species more vulnerable to changes.
But that was not why the passenger pigeon died out.
Our mistake
“The passenger pigeon died out because of people,” is Gilbert’s short version.
The passenger pigeon wasn’t in trouble prior to Europeans arrival in North America. Nothing suggests that the species was struggling in any way.
Perhaps this isn’t that surprising. In the 19th century passenger pigeons were so numerous that there were contests to shoot as many of them as possible during a certain period of time. In one competition, the winner had shot 30 000 birds.
If nothing else, the story of the passenger pigeon has contributed to a greater understanding that even prolific species can become extinct.
Something to learn
The large grasshopper Melanoplus spretus from the western United States suffered the same fate. It went from a population of several trillion to zero in a few decades, possibly because farmers destroyed its breeding grounds. In Norway and across the whole of the North Atlantic, the great auk (Pinguinus impennis) died out after people harvested them in large numbers.
People ate passenger pigeons in huge amounts, but they were also killed because they were perceived as a threat to agriculture. As Europeans migrated across North America, they thinned out and eliminated the large forests that the pigeons depended on. The pigeons lived primarily on acorns.
As the species was already dying out, 250,000 birds — the last big flock — were shot on a single day in 1896. That same year, the last passenger pigeon was observed in Louisiana. It was also shot.
The pigeons were probably dependent on a large flock size to reproduce. Their instincts didn’t work when only a few individuals remained here and there.
The last passenger pigeon died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.
Source
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