passenger pigeon

2 definitions found

passenger pigeon - 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

passenger pigeon - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  passenger pigeon
      n 1: gregarious North American migratory pigeon now extinct
           [syn: passenger pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius]