Talk:Passenger pigeon

message: The article details the widespread hunting of the Passenger pigeon, evidently at least a primary cause of its extinction. But the motivations for hunting do not seem to be discussed in any detail. Was the Passenger pigeon easy to shoot? Was it difficult and therefore a challenge to shoot? Did farmers shoot it to prevent crop destruction? Was the Passenger pigeon desired and used as cooked food? How widespread was the serving or eating of Passenger pigeon as meat? Details on these motivations for hunting (and their relative importance) would be helpful in understanding the extinction of the Passenger pigeon. David Spector (talk) 18:52, 6 June 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, all of this is already explained in the article, in the hunting section. Some quotes "The passenger pigeon was of particular value on the frontier, and some settlements counted on its meat to support their population.", "In the early 19th century, commercial hunters began netting and shooting the birds to sell as food in city markets, and even as pig fodder. Once pigeon meat became popular, commercial hunting started on a prodigious scale.", "Passenger pigeons were shot with such ease that many did not consider them to be a game bird", and "Passenger pigeons were also seen as agricultural pests, since entire crops could be destroyed by feeding flocks.". FunkMonk (talk) 18:58, 6 June 2019 (UTC)

text: If no one ever "ranked" them (which is a silly notion to begin with), which none of the authoritative modern sources do, it doesn't really matter what we are satisfied with or not. Humans hunt animals and destroy forests for a variety of reasons, and all we can do is present them, not "rank" them. The main causes are summarised under extinction, but as usual with extinctions, a single main reason can never be pinpointed (which would be too simplistic anyway), only the contributing factors. And the issue is still debated (how important was each factor?), so we can't be more certain than the sources here just for the sake of it. FunkMonk (talk) 19:17, 6 June 2019 (UTC)

text: Well, even if I have not read every single paper or book itself, the theories and studies involved are summarised repeatedly in other sources. FunkMonk (talk) 13:09, 2 July 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  What were the motivations for hunting the Passenger pigeon? 

message: This is a strange claim that should be directly attributed, not put into Wikipedia's own voice: "Reviving the passenger pigeon may help conserve woodland biodiversity in the eastern US."  This is not a statement that most scientists, including ecologists, zoologists, and others, would agree with.  I.e., it is a WP:FRINGE viewpoint.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  20:33, 31 March 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Not sure when or by who it was added, the citation is not formatted like the rest, so I'm fine if it is removed. FunkMonk (talk) 20:47, 31 March 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  FRINGE claim 

message: Hogyncymru (talk) 21:07, 6 December 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi, while it's an interesting exercise, it's a bit too speculative for an article where we have actual contemporary photos and illustrations, it's a bit too far into WP:original research territory. FunkMonk (talk) 21:36, 6 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Coloured version of the main image 

message: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=163368 TheZodiac007 (talk) 00:25, 7 October 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: This is covered in the article - see Passenger_pigeon#Last_survivors, end of first paragraph. Determining which of these records can stand as the last well-verified wild sighting has always been difficult. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 11:30, 7 October 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Last confirmed wild passenger pigeon was actually shot near Laurel, Indiana on April 3, 1902