Merpati penumpang

jmpl|Ectopistes migratorius
Merpati penumpang (Ectopistes migratorius) adalah spesies merpati yang telah punah asal Amerika Serikat. Diperkirakan bahwa terdapat 5 miliar merpati penumpang di Amerika Serikat ketika Eropa mengkolonisasi Amerika Utara.Smithsonian Institution; it is believed that this species once constituted 25 to 40 per cent of the total bird population of the United States. It is estimated that there were 3 billion to 5 billion passenger pigeons at the time Europeans discovered America. Mereka hidup pada kumpulan besar, dan selama migrasi, mereka dapat terlihat, membutuhkan beberapa hari untuk melewati dan membawa miliaran burung."Prior to 1492, this was a rare species." Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as extinct

Berkurangnya populasinya disebabkan oleh hilangnya habitat ketika orang Eropa mulai memasuki daerah dalam. Namun, akibat utama kepunahannya adalah ketika daging merpati dikomersialisasikan sebagai makanan murah untuk budak dan orang miskin pada abad ke-19, menyebabkan perburuan besar-besaran. "Martha" diketahui sebagai merpati penumpang terakhir di dunia yang mati pada tanggal 1 September 1914 di Cincinnati, Ohio.

 Referensi 
 Daftar pustaka 
 Weidensaul, Scott (1994). Mountains of the Heart: A Natural History of the Appalachians. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum Publishing. ISBN 1-55591-143-9.
 Eckert, Allan W. (1965). The Silent Sky: The Incredible Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon. Lincoln NE: IUniverse.com. ISBN 0-595-08963-1.
 New York Times; August 18, 1901, Wednesday; The Hon. Charles T. Dunning of Goshen, ex-Chief Clerk of the New York State Senate, has a fine collection of mounted specimens of birds, and among them is one of a bird that is today extinct, so far as any one has been able to discover, although less than fifteen years ago it was abundant on this continent and to the people of this State was as familiar as sparrows now are.
 Schorger, A.W. 1955. The Passenger Pigeon: Its Natural History and Extinction. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI. Reprinted in paperback, 2004, by Blackburn Press. ISBN 1-930665-96-2. 424 pp.

 Catatan 

 Pranala luar 

 Songbird Foundation: Passenger Pigeon 
 The Extinction Website 
 Passenger Pigeon Society
 The Demise of the Passenger Pigeon (as broadcast on NPR's Day to Day)

Kategori:Ectopistes
Kategori:Burung yang telah punah
Kategori:Burung Amerika Serikat