passenger pigeon

American  

noun

1. an extinct pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius, once found in great numbers in North America, noted for its sustained migratory flights.

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passenger pigeon British  

noun

1. a gregarious North American pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius: became extinct at the beginning of the 20th century

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Etymology

Origin of passenger pigeon

An Americanism dating back to 1795–1805

Example Sentences

Humans exterminated the passenger pigeon, the great auk and the Carolina parakeet.

From The Wall Street Journal

Market hunters used shotguns, nets and traps to fill traincars with passenger pigeons—as well as robins, woodpeckers, blackbirds and orioles.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Hall of Extinction and Hope analogizes manmade climate change and habitat destruction to a slow-moving asteroid that has already obliterated species such as the passenger pigeon, dodo and great auk.

From The Wall Street Journal

Despite how resilient sharks may seem, though, they may not be able to dodge the fate of the dodo or the passenger pigeon.

From Salon

In the 1800s, the sky would routinely grow dark when large numbers of the now-extinct passenger pigeon passed through this popular roosting area in northwestern, Pennsylvania.

From National Geographic