The North American bird that once numbered in the billions and became extinct after Martha’s death in 1914 was the passenger pigeon.
The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was a highly social, fast-flying bird of eastern North America. Its enormous flocks could darken the sky; estimates place the population at roughly three to five billion birds during the nineteenth century. It fed largely on forest mast, including acorns, beechnuts, and other seeds.
Commercial hunting caused a catastrophic decline. Passenger pigeons were killed for cheap meat and shipped to growing cities, while deforestation destroyed their breeding habitat. Their dependence on huge colonies also made recovery difficult once numbers fell. The last confirmed wild bird was shot in 1902, but a few survived in captivity.
Martha, kept at the Cincinnati Zoo, was the last known passenger pigeon. She died on September 1, 1914, and her death marked the species’ extinction. She was later preserved and is held by the Smithsonian. The passenger pigeon is often confused with the mourning dove, but genetic studies place it closer to certain Patagioenas pigeons.