| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANIMALIA | CHORDATA | AVES | Columbiformes | Columbidae |
| Scientific Name: | Ectopistes migratorius | |||
| Species Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1766) | |||
Common Name/s:
|
||||
| Red List Category & Criteria: | Extinct ver 3.1 | |||||||||
| Year Assessed: | 2008 | |||||||||
| Assessor/s | BirdLife International | |||||||||
| Evaluator/s: | Bird, J. & Butchart, S. (BirdLife International Red List Authority) | |||||||||
| History: |
|
| Range Description: | Ectopistes migratorius was found forest in eastern and central Canada and the USA, occasionally wandering south to Mexico and Cuba4. Over the 19th century, the species crashed from being one of the most abundant birds in the world to extinction4. The last wild bird was shot in 1900, and the last captive bird died in 1914 in the Cincinnati Zoo5. |
| Countries: |
Regionally extinct:
Canada; Cuba; Mexico; United States
|
| Habitat and Ecology: | It was a nomadic species, breeding and foraging in vast flocks millions of birds strong. It exploited seasonally available crops of beechmast, acorns and chestnuts; scouting for food sources and infomation sharing was likely to have required flocks of a certain critical size, below which survival would be compromised. Birds nested in April or May in vast colonies typically 16 by 5 km in size. |
| Systems: | Terrestrial |
| Major Threat(s): | The precise cause of its extinction is difficult to determine, but the widespread clearance of the hardwood trees which provided its mast food, and the proliferation of the rail network and telegraph system which enabled efficient location of nesting colonies and the transport of young birds to market are probably the two single most important factors. Other important factors were excessive shooting, Newcastle disease, and towards the last of their years, the breakdown of social facilitation1,2,3. |
| Citation: | BirdLife International 2008. Ectopistes migratorius. In: IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 21 November 2009. |
| Disclaimer: | To make use of this information, please check the <Terms of Use>. |
| Feedback: | If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please fill in the feedback form so that we can correct or extend the information provided |
