from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
passenger pigeon \passenger pigeon\ (Zool.),
A once common wild pigeon of North America ({Ectopistes
migratorius}), now extinct. It was so called on account of
its extensive migrations.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
Note: The passenger pigeon presents a striking example of how
dramatic a negative influence man can have on other
species. The population of the passenger pigeon is
estimated to have been at one time as high as five
billion in North America, but over a period of about
one hundred years large scale hunting for use as food
and killing for "sport" reduced the numbers below that
necessary to sustain existence of the species. At one
time over 200,000 birds were shipped to the food
markets in one day. The last wild pigeon is believed to
have died in 1900, and the last bird in captivity died
in 1914. It is a rare example of the date of a man-made
extinction being recorded with certainty.
[PJC] passe-partout