This clearly wasn’t just a bird; it was a phenomenon. Roosting areas on the other hand are places where pigeons would stay for as little as a single night before moving on to another food source. Unlike Band-tailed Pigeons, which will nest in densities of one nest per three to four acres, Passenger Pigeons nested in densities of up to 100 nests per tree. By 1900 there were no longer any large flocks, and the last wild pigeon was shot in 1902 in Indiana. (This would probably indicate the lifespan in the wild: Martha, the last passenger pigeon, live and died in captivity at the age of 29. This, of … To try to figure out what happened, scientists analyzed DNA … The males were mainly gray, with bronze feathers on the neck and darker spots on the wings and they were about 16.5 inches tall; the females were more of a brownish gray color with cinnamon-rose covered breast feathers and were an inch shorter, coming in at just 15.5 inches tall. Biodiversity Heritage Library, Flickr // CC BY 2.0 In 1871, an estimated 136 million passenger … Conservationists Tried to Save the Passenger Pigeon . Billions of these birds once flew over North America, but the last known passenger pigeon died in 1914. Multiple organizations subsequently offered rewards for any evidence of a living, wild passenger pigeon, but none would be claimed. Thus, the authors concluded that the passenger pigeon’s genome did show a “hitch-hiking effect” of strong natural selection. The largest recorded passenger pigeon nesting site was in Wisconsin. The Passenger Pigeon’s nesting area was focused around what is now New England and the Great Lakes. The Passenger Pigeon’s incomprehensible migrations reportedly darkened the skies for days on end. The Ohio State Legislature dismissed one such petition in 1857, stating that "the passenger pigeon needs no protection. The bird had a life span of 7-12 years, sometimes slightly more. The last major passenger pigeon nesting was recorded in 1878, in Petoskey, Michigan. The history of the Cincinnati Zoo's passenger pigeons has been described by Arlie William Schorger in his monograph on the species as "hopelessly confused," and he also said that it is "difficult to find a more garbled history" than that of Martha. The Passenger Pigeon lived in dense flocks because of a unique behavioral trait: their social breeding. Passenger Pigeon pictures often show these birds as they once were. The first law that afforded the Passenger Pigeon any kind of protection was enacted in Michigan in 1897. More than 100 years after passenger pigeons disappeared from the wild, scientists believe they can recreate the species through a painstaking, controversial “de-extinction” process. It was here that the flocks would build nests and procreate, their stays in these areas extended. 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