Pigeon Fest
Bournemouth Natural Science Society, 3rd – 17th September 2014
An exhibition about the Passenger Pigeon and the Pigeon Family in general will be held in the Lecture Theatre at the Bournemouth Natural Science Society (BNSS) 3rd– 17thSeptember 2014. The exhibition will be open to the public Monday to Saturday, 10.30am – 4pm (excluding Wednesday and Saturday afternoons to accommodate lectures). The exhibition marks the centenary of the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon.
The highlight of the event will be a talk on Saturday 13th September at 2.30pm by visiting speaker Dr Mark Avery, RSPB Conservation Director (1986 – 2011), called Britain’s premier wildlife blogger, who has written a book on Martha, the last Passenger Pigeon, and the importance of her fate.
During Pigeon Fest fortnight there will be two other talks. A Pageantry of Pigeons, Wednesday 3rd September at 2.30pm, looks at the variety of the Pigeon/Dove Family, and Architecture for Birds on Wednesday 17th September at 2.30pm, highlights Dovecotes and forms part of Dorset Architectural Heritage Week. The BNSS will also be holding an Open Event on Wednesday 17th September, welcoming visitors from 10.30am – 2pm to come in and have a look around!
The monthly Young Explorers club on Saturday 13th September, 10am-12.30pm will be shown fancy pigeons and invited to join in with some hands on activities. The intention is to replace the “Rats with Wings” image with the recognition of amazing groups of birds.
All events are FREE (donations welcome) and open to the public. For more information, contact Communications Officer, Katherine West, at [email protected] or on 07786080025.
Background
On 1st September 1914, at 1pm, the last Passenger Pigeon died at Cincinnati Zoo. This is possibly the only precisely recorded occasion when a species (as opposed to a variety) became extinct.
The sheer numbers of the bird amazed the early European settlers in North America. It flew in flocks numbering millions, if not billions, blocking out the sun for hours on end as they passed. As the indigenous forests were cut down, the bird lost its habitat and main food sources. It became regarded as a pest as it turned to crop fields, and was systematically shot out of the sky. By the 1880s the pigeon was becoming scarce. Martha, the last specimen, died alone in her cage in 1914.
With the centenary coming up, there is a widespread movement in the USA to commemorate this event, linking it with the need for conservation. There was an early hope their Project Passenger Pigeon would have an international series of events, but other nations seem not to have taken up the occasion.
The Bournemouth Natural Science Society appears to be the only UK organisation to recognise the event. Since the BNSS has a specimen of the unfortunate bird, we are using the opportunity to focus on the continuing plight of our birds.
In the literature some 190 birds have been listed as becoming extinct since 1500, of which 10% belong to the Pigeon Family, including the Dodo. At present time the RSPB is attempting to stem the loss of the Turtle Dove.
Katherine West