Passenger Pigeon and Waterfowl: Flights to Extinction and Not

Abstract

Hunting of fowl was a part of the Chesapeake Bay Region’s food system from the earliest times. English colonists introduced the shotgun as an effective weapon against swimming, flying and roosting birds. Despite the new weaponry, populations of game-birds remained fairly abundant for the first century after colonization, since most hunting was for feeding families. The advent of the steamboat and railroad opened up new markets for fowl. These new forms of transportation brought ice for preserving the kill from northern states, and allowed hunters to send the chilled carcasses of slain birds to distant restaurants, hotels, and market centers. The railroads also spurred development of wildlands and the expansion of agriculture, reducing habitat for terrestrial and water birds. The combination of over-hunting and habitat loss drove the nineteenth Century extinction of the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius), a migratory species which once was the most populous bird in N. America. The loss of the passenger pigeon informed efforts to prevent the same fate befalling widely hunted waterfowl species. Many of the political elite hunted waterfowl and helped push legislation to protect their pastime. This led to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, the first national environmental legislation for the US. This act, subsequent legislation, and efforts to recover lost habitat combined to rebuild the populations of most species of waterfowl that frequent the Chesapeake Bay. The Canada goose (Branta canadensis) has gone from near extinction in 1920 to the status of a nuisance species in many locations due to its ability to forage on industrial grain farms. The recovery of other species, such as the canvas back duck (Aythya valisineria) is much less complete. This points to the need to continue tight regulation of hunting and investment in habitat restoration.