The Last Passenger Pigeon

September 1, 1914 - Martha, the last known passenger pigeon, was found dead in her enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. She was about 29 years old. With her passing, a species that once dominated North America vanished forever.

At their peak, passenger pigeons may have numbered between 3 and 5 billion, making them one of the most abundant bird species on Earth. They migrated in flocks so vast that they darkened the skies for hours. In 1866, one such flock over Ontario reportedly took 14 hours to pass overhead, stretching 300 miles and containing an estimated over 3 billion birds.

The species’ collapse was shockingly swift. Overhunting, combined with the destruction of their forest habitats, drove the birds from billions to none in just a few decades.

After Martha’s death, her body was preserved and sent to the Smithsonian Institution, where she was taxidermied. She has since been displayed at various times, continuing to serve as a powerful reminder of the ecological cost of extinction.

The name “passenger pigeon” comes from the French word passager, meaning “passing by”—a fitting echo for a bird whose endless migrations once filled the skies, and whose absence now leaves them forever empty.