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A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction Paperback – September 2, 2014

by Joel Greenberg (Author)

38 customer reviews

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When Europeans arrived in North America, 25 to 40 percent of the continent's birds were passenger pigeons, traveling in flocks so massive as to block out the sun for hours or even days. The downbeats of their wings would chill the air beneath and create a thundering roar that would drown out all other sound. John James Audubon, impressed by their speed and agility, said a lone passenger pigeon streaking through the forest “passes like a thought.” How prophetic-for although a billion pigeons crossed the skies 80 miles from Toronto in May of 1860, little more than fifty years later passenger pigeons were extinct. The last of the species, Martha, died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo on September 1, 1914.

As naturalist Joel Greenberg relates in gripping detail, the pigeons' propensity to nest, roost, and fly together in vast numbers made them vulnerable to unremitting market and recreational hunting. The spread of railroads and telegraph lines created national demand that allowed the birds to be pursued relentlessly. Passenger pigeons inspired awe in the likes of Audubon, Henry David Thoreau, James Fenimore Cooper, and others, but no serious effort was made to protect the species until it was too late. Greenberg's beautifully written story of the passenger pigeon paints a vivid picture of the passenger pigeon's place in literature, art, and the hearts and minds of those who witnessed this epic bird, while providing a cautionary tale of what happens when species and natural resources are not harvested sustainably.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The first major work in sixty years about the most famous extinct species since the dodo...equal parts natural history, elegy, and environmental outcry . . . A painstaking researcher, Greenberg writes with a naturalist's curiosity about the birds . . . Answering even basic questions about the passenger pigeon requires a sort of forensic ornithology, which gives Feathered River Across the Sky an unexpected poignancy at the very points where it is most nature-nerdy.” ―New Yorker

“Joel Greenberg has done prodigious research into the literature of the passenger pigeon and lays much of it out in this book. For that effort, all who care about the living world owe him a debt of gratitude.” ―Wall Street Journal

“A brilliant, important, haunting and poignant book, A Feathered River Across the Sky . . . will forever change the way in which you think of pigeons (all birds, really) and about the natural world. The book describes, in vivid detail, forceful narrative and handsome illustrations, the history of this species and the factors that contributed to its extinction.” ―Chicago Tribune

“Joel Greenberg, a Chicago-area naturalist and avid birder, has written a new account of the passenger pigeon's demise, A Feathered River Across the Sky. As Greenberg relates it, in calm, measured prose, it's a story of unremitting, wanton, continental-scale destruction.” ―New York Review of Books

“Thoroughly researched and well written.” ―Edward O. Wilson, University Research Professor Emeritus, Harvard University

“A Feathered River Across the Sky is a parable for our time . . . What a heartbreaking indictment of our species that we treated these animals so thoughtlessly.” ―David Suzuki, author of The Sacred Balance

“The human folly depicted here is as deep as the pigeons were numerous . . . Highly recommended.” ―Library Journal, starred review

About the Author

Joel Greenberg is a research associate of the the Field Museum and the Chicago Academy of Sciences Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. The author of three books, including A Natural History of the Chicago Region, Greenberg helped spearhead Project Passenger Pigeon to focus attention on human-caused extinctions. He lives in Westmont, Illinois. Visit his blog at Birdzilla.com.

Product details

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; 1St Edition edition (September 2, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9781620405369
ISBN-13: 978-1620405369
ASIN: 1620405369
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 38 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #487,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #606 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Birds & Birdwatching > Field Guides
- #765 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Field Guides
- #3865 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Fauna

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Wow - Very intense!

February 17, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book was more than I bragained for and is a very emotional read. It starts out reviewing the passenger pigeon ecology, its amazing migrations and the movements of millions of passenger pigeons. I thought, what an amazing pigeon and I was thankful for buying and reading this book whch made this remarkable bird come alive again.

However, in the second part of the book, Joel Greenberg has collected and published the actual accounts of how the passenger pigeon was slaughtered from the writings of the people who participated. This section of the book almost reads like a catalog titled "How to kill passenger pigeons". In these chapters, the book becomes a very difficult read - and a terrifying almost repititous account of how Americans carelessly slaughtered this remarkable animal for food, money and sport into extinction.

I found the accounts of the pigeon's final nesting attempts in the last 10 years to be the most intense and poignent part of the book - you are shouting to yourself - "No, please stop the killings - these are the last birds" and even in these last years, the extent of the remaining pigeon population is astounding. Books like this are needed. Thanks for the author for writing it - it must have been a very difficult book emotionally to write.

21 people found this helpful

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Spellbinding and Sobering

November 19, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I enjoyed this book on many levels; as a factual, documented account of events leading up to the extinction of passenger pigeons, as a historical account of past attitudes in this country, and as a general lesson for today. Perhaps "enjoyed" is not the best choice of words, because it is an account of a tragedy. At one point, I found myself perturbed a bit with the author's seemingly dispassionate accounts of annihilating slaughters, one after another, region after region, year after year, described page after page, along with descriptions of throngs of pigeon hunters rejoicing in their wanton and wasteful kills. But I read on, though overwhelmed at times by the carnage. Later, in his analysis of the extinction, the author's condemnation of the carnage becomes clear. Indeed, this style is the style for such a well documented and researched piece. Any other approach would have been manipulative. The account is horrific enough. No manipulation is necessary.

Anyone who follows current environmental issues will be struck by similarities in human responses to the extinction then, and our responses now to losses and changes in the natural world. There always seems to be an element of denial. Few people could believe then that passenger pigeons had become extinct. Similarly, many people today ignore various environmental issues and refuse to believe that human behavior might need to change, or that it might be responsible for these issues.

Chapter footnotes are well worth reviewing, and the Bibliography provides numerous leads for anyone wishing to further his or her knowledge about passenger pigeons.

A fascinating, detailed account.

2 people found this helpful

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Robert J. Schaefer

The complete story of the Passenger Pigeon

March 2, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book describes in detail the factors which were responsible for the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon. The spreading of telegraph lines made it impossible to keep the location of nesting colonies a secret. The spreading of railroads meant that from wherever the pigeons nested, they could be sent to market. But above all, the prevailing attitude that wherever the pigeons were, people had the right to slaughter them. Most shocking of all was the sending of thousands of pigeons to be used as targets for "sportsmen."
The book also describes the efforts, ineffective as they were, to protect the pigeons. State laws were passed to protect them - after they had been exterminated in the state. Laws restricted shooting at the colonies, but not netting. The prevailing theme was "too little, too late."
The only thing I missed in this book was a discussion of how attitudes and laws have changed to prevent further occurrence of such tragedies. Unfortunately, the same practices that resulted in extinction of the Passenger Pigeon still prevail in places such as southern Europe and North Africa.

2 people found this helpful

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June 11, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I have always been fascinated with the plight of the passenger pigeon and other species driven to extinction due to human encroachment. People naturally want to exploit animals for profit or get rid of any that bother them and overkill animals for sport and fun.
I would love to have seen a migration of the pigeons. Unfortunately, the destruction of crops and other problems they caused made their extinction inevitable. Imagine a flock of the size of the ones in the 1700's landing anywhere in the USA today! The stripping of all vegetation, breakage of trees and the huge amounts of excrement would be disastrous. Their inability to breed below a certain flock size and inability to adjust to change was the main reason they disappeared.

Comment

Joseph M. McGee

How the most abundant bird in North America became extinct

September 2, 2018

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

The book is a good account of "what went wrong" to cause the extinction of a native bird species and how the super-abundance of a species does not insure that species will live on forever. The extinction of the Passenger Pigeon should serve as a warning that humanity should never be cavalier in using Earth's resources nor in the way it deals with the planet's other inhabitants.

Comment

Michael Malagold

Too detailed for most readers

March 8, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The tragic story of the passenger pigeon contains important lessons for humanity and our relationship with Nature. The opening chapters paint a vivid picture of what flocks of pigeons were like and make compelling reading.
Unfortunately, the book then devolves into excessively detailed descriptions of how the birds were hunted, marketed, cooked, and exterminated-important issues, but far to detailed for most readers.
The last chapter dealing with broader issues of extinction is again good informative reading.
If you get this book, be prepared to skim/skip much of the mid-portion.

10 people found this helpful

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