The Passenger Pigeon

The findings also have implications for how conservation scientists think about vulnerability to extinction, Dr. Shapiro added. The passenger pigeon illustrates that even species with colossal population sizes are not safe from disappearing.

From the NYTimes.

So thick they blotted out the sun when flying to and fro,

These pigeons numbered in the millions not so long ago.

A single buckshot discharge could bring down about a score,

For pioneers to pluck and roast, and then go back for more.

Just like the shaggy buffalo, these birds pell mell were slaughtered;

Their simple blood was spilled so much the prairie ground it watered.

But buffalos were salvaged by our conscience-stricken nation,

While these poor fowl were hunted to a final desolation.

Is there, then, much safety in the teeming, surging crowd --

Or does the very size of it produce its own dread shroud?

Majorities appeal to man and beast as havens snug --

But just remember Noah when you start to feeling smug!