Martha the passenger pigeon, who died
100 years ago, is being remembered this month as a prescient symbol of what can
happen when man meets nature. A comprehensive new report finds that many more
American bird species could meet the same fate.
Passenger pigeons were once the most common bird in North America - if not the world- but rapid land development in the 19th Century forced them from their natural forest habitat. Huge flocks descended on farms, destroying crops and livelihoods, and their doom was sealed. Considered a major pest (and a valuable source of meat and feathers), they were relentlessly hunted down.
On 1 September 1914, round about noon, Martha, the last of her species, died in the Cincinnati Zoo. Ectopistes migratorius, once numbering in the billions, joined the ranks of the dodo and the great auk.
One hundred years later, it is tempting think that we know better. But as a new report today makes clear, birds across the US are in deep trouble.
Read the full article here: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29116412
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