Pigeon Roost Farm

"Pigeon Roost Farm" was the original name of this 80-acre farm, dating back to the mid-1800s. It was named for the Passenger Pigeon—once the most abundant bird in the world—that frequented this area. At that time, Passenger Pigeons made up almost one-half of all birds in North America. As they searched for food, they traveled in huge flocks that could blot out the sun, and whose sound reminded people of Niagara Falls. The birds could easily fly 60 MPH and were likened to "blue meteors" when in flight. They ate the acorns, chestnuts, beechnuts, berries, and insects found in the forests that once stood here...and they had quite an appetite, too! One bird was found with 30 acorns in its stomach!

When they rested, the traveling pigeons liked woods with large trees, but here in Ohio they preferred swamps. One such area was "Pigeon Swamp," down the hill behind our August 10, 2008 in the same area for long periods; hence, the name "Pigeon Roost Farm" stuck. As difficult as it is to imagine, a roosting area could easily contain millions of birds. The birds could get so thick that branches and even entire trees crashed to the ground, and the area beneath the trees would be covered in feet of dung. Even many years later, people could tell where a flock had roosted by the destruction—but it did make very fertile soil for the early farmers.

Passenger Pigeons were very beautiful birds that looked somewhat like more colorful Mourning Doves. They had bright orange eyes, grey-blue heads, wings, and tails, with shiny violet feathers on their backs and breast feathers a deeper red than those of a robin. Not only were they more attractive, but they were also much larger than city pigeons: Their bodies measured 1.5 feet long and they carried a wingspan of over 2 feet.

Unbelievably, these amazing birds went from flocks of millions to extinction in 40 short years. Passenger Pigeons became popular cuisine on the East Coast, but excessive hunting limited their numbers. Then, the spread of the railroad and telegraph in the 1860s allowed hunters to coordinate their activities and quickly ship millions of birds across the nation. Through the late 1800s, hunting disrupted or destroyed virtually every nesting area and caused whole generations of pigeons to die without producing offspring.

The last large flock was seen in Ohio around 1885; then, in 1900, a young boy from Pike County killed the last wild Passenger Pigeon with a BB gun he received for Christmas. Fortunately, a small colony of pigeons remained in the Cincinnati Zoo, but they never produced any young and gradually died off. Finally, the only remaining Passenger Pigeon, Martha, a 29-year-old female, died on September 1, 1914.

Now, over 80 years later, the last reminders of the pigeon's legacy are a few stuffed bodies. Martha is now on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and a few others are scattered throughout the nation in places named after this once abundant bird. It is in the spirit of remembrance that we are pleased to continue the name of Pigeon Roost Farm.