1. The passenger pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius, once had a range that covered the entire eastern woodland region of North America from Florida to southern Canada, west, ending where the Great Plains began. 2. The male passenger pigeon was 16 inches long with a bluish gray head and orange chest. Their back was an olive color with black spots. The female was slightly smaller and all that olive color. 3. They were a member of the Columbidae family which includes pigeons, doves, and the dodo. 4. The population once numbered between 3 - 5 billion birds. 5. The passenger pigeon got its name from the French word, ‘passager’ meaning “passer by” due to its vast migrations. 6. These flocks that passed by could number over a million, blocking out the sun for hours and leaving bird poop, making it looked like it had snowed on a summer’s day. 7. It is estimated they could fly over 60 mph. 8. The flocks were so loud they could be heard several miles away. 9. The nesting colonies were called “cities” because so many birds nested in the same tree, even breaking branches off of trees and leaving over 1 foot of poop under the “city”. 10. The passenger pigeon was a cheap, common food in colonial times. Hunting was easy and simply involved pointing a gun in the air and shooting. 11. Profession hunters were sent to kill the birds in mass numbers and send them back to feed people living in cities. 12. In one organized hunt, people gathered killed over 250,000 passenger pigeons in one day. One contestant killed 30,000 birds. 13. Taking advantage of their social behavior, hunters would capture a bird, tie its leg to a stool, and place it in an open field. Others would respond to the distressed bird, only to be shot or netted. This gave rise to the term ‘stool pigeon’ which means an ‘informer”, a “tattletale”, or a “snitch’. 14. The last wild passenger pigeon was shot with a bb gun by 12 year old Press Clay Southworth in Sargents, Ohio on March 22, 1900 15. The last pair was at the Cincinnati Zoo, named after George & Martha Washington. George died on July 10, 1910, leaving Martha the sole representative of her once abundant species. 16. Martha grew older and people visiting the zoo would often throw handfuls of sand at her to get her to move. The zoo decided to rope off her cage. 17. It is thought that Martha was 29 years old at the time of her death. 18. Martha, the last passenger pigeon, died in the Cincinnati Zoo on September 1, 1914 at 1pm. 19. Her body was frozen in a block of ice and sent to Washington DC's Smithsonian Institution where she was displayed for some time. 20. She was then removed and taken to the museum vaults until she was redisplayed in 2015 at the Museum of Natural History. 21. There was a memorial built at the Cincinnati Zoo to remember Martha, and ironically Incus, the last Carolina Parakeet, died in Martha's cage in 1918. 22. Martha was placed back in the Smithsonian vault and is no longer on public display.