WFC 111 Lecture 28: Lecture 28-12/2

• School: UC-Davis
• Department: Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology
• Course: WFC 111
• Professor: Eadie John

Document Summary

Swift & agile in water, but clumsy & vulnerable on land. Birds could be herded right onto gangplanks and onto boats. Eggs collected and chicks used for fish food. Cooling climate, reduced fish (prey) added to decline. The last nesting pair was killed on july 3rd 1994 and their sole egg summarily crushed. Once the most abundant bird on planet. Audubon watched a flock pass overhead for 3 days. (cid:364)the pigeons were picked up and piled in heaps until each hunter has as many as could possibly dispose of, when the hogs were let loose to feed on the remainder. Adults baited with alcohol-soaked grain, suffocated by grass or sulfur fires lit below their nests. Captive pigeons, their eyes sewn shut, were set up as decoys on small perches called stools. Habitat loos, especially deforestation at critical roosting sites in michigan contributed greatly to decline. Last known individual, a female named martha, died in.