My understanding was that the demise of the Passenger Pigeon was triggered by
hunting-caused drops in population. The immediate cause of the decline,
however, was that the species had a strange breeding biology. They had HUGE
communal nests, and predation at the edges was also extreme. When the
population was large, the edge was comparatively small. As the population
dropped, the edge became progressively more and more significant, until at a
certain point, predation would quickly eliminate the colony.

In effect, the required breeding habitat for the Passenger Pigeon was to be
hidden inside a colony of a million other Passenger Pigeons. So it was habitat
loss after all ;(

== Michael Hobbs
== Kirkland WA
== hummer at isomedia.com

----- Original Message -----
From: Don Baccus <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
To: <mpatters at oregonvos.net>; <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Monday, August 09, 1999 11:34 AM
Subject: Re: In defense of the downtrodden


> At 08:28 AM 8/9/99 -0700, Mike Patterson wrote:
> >Combined with the wholesale conversion of eastern forests that
> >would have been required for breeding to human uses.
>
> Actually, it seems clear that at the time of extinction, at
> least, there was plenty of adequate habitat for these birds.
>
> While loss of habitat is nearly always the primary cause for
> species to decline/go extinct, the case of the Passenger
> Pigeon seems to be an exception.
>
>
>
> - Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
> Nature photos, on-line guides, Pacific Northwest
> Rare Bird Alert Service and other goodies at
> http://donb.photo.net.
>