A Shadow Over the Earth:

The Life and Death of the Passenger Pigeon

November 1, 2014 – December 21, 2014

This exhibition tells the story of the Passenger Pigeon, which once numbered in the billions, and the human influence on its extinction. Highlights include a taxidermied passenger pigeon, on loan courtesy of the Dufferin County Museum and Archives; an illustrative display of the history of the passenger pigeon, courtesy of Killbear Provincial Park (artwork by the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History); and a special guest presentation by Mark Peck, a technician in the Department of Natural History at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) on the passenger pigeon and the de-extinction project. The exhibit explores the idea of learning from the past and provides hope for the future as scientists continue to unravel the complexities of extinction and use this knowledge to make a difference in the world today.

Exhibit Highlights

•  Illustrations, Artwork, and Interpretive Exhibit Signage
  View historical, full-color illustrations of Passenger Pigeons. Learn about their natural behaviour and why they became extinct so quickly through the writings and drawings located on interpretive panels (on loan courtesy of Killbear Provincial Park.) The exhibit panels were created by the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History as a contribution to the Passenger Pigeon Project – a year-long effort to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the extinction of this remarkable bird.
  
  
• Real Passenger Pigeon Specimen
  Get a close-up view of these spectacular birds. Although Passenger Pigeons are extinct, hundreds have been preserved for research, one of which is displayed in the exhibit (on loan courtesy of the Dufferin County Museum and Archives)
  
  
• Species on the Brink
  Learn about today's conservations success stories
  
  
• Special Guest Presentation by the ROM's Mark Peck
  A special guest presentation by Mark Peck, a technician in the Department of Natural History at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) will take place at the Museum on Thursday, December 11^th at 7pm. Mr. Peck will speak about the Passenger Pigeon and the De-Extinction Project – a project that aims to revive and restore the passenger pigeon species which involves retrieving genetic material from a stuffed passenger bird. Tickets are now available at the Museum. A limit of only 50 tickets are being printed – $10 adults | $7 students/seniors
  
  
  

Did You Know?

•  Passenger Pigeons were once North America's most abundant bird, with an estimated population of 3 billion to 5 billion. They gathered in the numbers that could darken the sky for days
  
  
• The pigeons lived alongside humans for thousands of years, as reflected in everyday language such as "clay pigeon shooting," police informers being referred to as "stool pigeons," and the city of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
  
  
• Within decades, human actions reduced this incredible bounty of birds to zero, when on September 1, 1914, the last of the species, a female pigeon named Martha, died at the Cincinnati Zoo.
  
  

Acknowledgements

This exhibit was developed by the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History as a contribution to the Passenger Pigeon Project. To learn more, please visit: passengerpigeon.org