The White Memorial Conservation Center Showcases a New Exhibit in the Nature Museum Called 'Nevermore: The Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon,' Featuring a Rare Taxidermy Mount of this Extinct Bird

Litchfield, CT - The story of the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) does not have a happy ending, but it’s a story that needs to be told nonetheless.

Once the most numerous bird in North America, the passenger pigeon crashed to extinction in a matter of 100 years at the hands of humans and our development. White Memorial Conservation Center’s Nature Museum is now showcasing a small exhibit called “Nevermore: The Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon,” which features a taxidermy mount of a female passenger pigeon.

While the passenger pigeon was not a particularly showy bird, it is a profound experience to view the real feathers, real beak, and real feet of an extinct species. And to realize that this species - whose flocks prior to 1800 were so dense that they would block out the sun - has been reduced to a smattering of taxidermy specimens in assorted Museums is nothing short of heart-breaking.

The unregulated harvest of passenger pigeons, as well as a loss of habitat, led to their demise. It’s a story heard time and time again in the chronicles of wildlife conservation. Fortunately, due to a significant shift in our cultural mindset in the early 1900’s from resource exploitation to conservation and management, many animals such as beavers and wild turkey were saved. However, it was too late for the passenger pigeon.

“Nevermore: The Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon” is an exhibit that is intended to serve as a reminder that resources are finite, and that humans have the responsibility to uphold a conservation ethic. If we learn from our mistakes, we may never have to witness another species plummet to extinction like the passenger pigeon.

The White Memorial Foundation was established in 1913 by brother and sister Alain and May White, two of the greatest land conservationists in the United States. In addition to over 4,000 acres they conserved in Litchfield and Morris, Connecticut, the Whites gifted 6,000 acres of land statewide, which became the nucleus of Connecticut’s State Park system.