A Feathered River Across the Sky

“Equal parts natural history, elegy, and environmental outcry. . . . Greenberg writes with a naturalist's curiosity about the birds.” ―New Yorker

When Europeans arrived in North America, twenty-five to forty 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. Although a billion pigeons crossed the skies eighty 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 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 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.

“Brilliant, important, haunting and poignant.” ―Chicago Tribune

“Thoroughly researched and well written.” ―Edward O. Wilson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Ants

“A parable for our time.” ―David Suzuki, author of The Sacred Balance