Elsevier

Biological Conservation

Volume 17, Issue 2, February 1980, Pages 157-162
Biological Conservation

The extinction of the passenger pigeon ectopistes migratorius and its relevance to contemporary conservation

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Abstract

The passenger pigeon Ectopistes migratorius became extinct in 1914, largely as the result of intensive hunting by man. However, the final stages of its decline seem to have been too rapid to be accounted for entirely by human activity. It is suggested that social factors, namely colony size and reproductive success, were related in such a way that, though the species was apparently still quite common, its breeding rate was insufficient to offset mortality. A model relating colony size to breeding rate is put forward and its relevance to the conservation of living socially breeding species is discussed.

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