Lessons from the Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) a Century Ago

The SENR Spring 2016 Seminar Series welcomes David Blockstein, Senior Scientist, National Council for Science and Environment, Project Passenger Pigeon, who will present Lessons from the Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) a Century Ago. 

In 1800, billions of Passenger Pigeons crisscrossed the skies of the eastern United States and Canada. Passing flocks darkened the skies for many hours. Yet, by 1900 the species was virtually extinct, and on September 1, 1914, Martha, the last of her species, died in the Cincinnati Zoo. The centenary of the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon provides a teachable moment for conservationists, scientists, educators, and public to consider how the most abundant bird in the world went extinct over a matter of decades and to ponder its implications for today.

David E. Blockstein is the Senior Scientist of the National Council for Science and the Environment.  He is the author of the Birds of North America species account on the Passenger Pigeon. He is one of the leaders in Project Passenger Pigeon (www.passengerpigeon.org ), an effort to use the 2014 centenary of the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon as a teachable moment to advance science and conservation. He is the founding chair of the Ornithological Council and a Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union. He has a bachelors’ degree in wildlife ecology from the University of Wisconsin and a masters and doctorate in ecology from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Blockstein has conducted research on Mourning Doves in Minnesota and North Dakota, Tooth-billed Pigeons in Western Samoa, and endangered Grenada Doves in Grenada, West Indies.  He began his research on Passenger Pigeons while at the University of Minnesota. 

The SENR Spring 2016 Seminar begins at 4:10 in 164 Howlett Hall. CarmenConnect into 123 Williams Hall will be available at http://carmenconnect.osu.edu/pigeon/.