Martha, The Last Of The Passenger Pigeons

The passenger pigeon is an extinct North American bird. Named after the French word passager for 'passing by.' it was once the most abundant bird in North America, and possibly the world. The extinction of the passenger pigeon had two major causes: commercial exploitation of pigeon meat on a massive scale and loss of habitat.

A captive-bred female passenger pigeon named Martha (photo right) was the last of her kind. On September 1, 1914, Martha died in the Cincinnati Zoo.