The loss of the passenger pigeon is one of the most well documented and well known modern extinctions. Their population went from billions to none in a little over 40 years. How did they go from blotting out the sun with their huge numbers to a single bird sitting in a cage in the Cincinnati Zoo? Find out in this episode.

Listen through to the end for an interview with the author of 'A Feathered River Across the Sky', Joel Greenberg. He talks about the book, how every day people can help with modern conservation, and what it was like to see an extinct species in person about 15 years before it was lost forever.

If you are interested in seeing a Passenger Pigeon in person, a list of museums where they are currently housed can be found on the Project Passenger Pigeon website: http://passengerpigeon.org/

Sources:

Books:

A Feathered River Across the Sky by Joel Greenberg

The Passenger Pigeon by Errol Fuller

Johnson et al 2010: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790310002290?via%3Dihub

https://medium.com/wild-without-end/the-second-great-american-extinction-event-1600s-to-1900s-d6e07985116e

https://reviverestore.org/about-the-passenger-pigeon/

The cover photo for this episode is of Martha, and the photo is from Wikimedia Commons