10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

Not more than four years following the final breath of the last living Passenger Pigeon , and at the same facility – the Cincinnati Zoo, whose place in ornithological history is morbidly established – the last Carolina Parakeet died. It was called Incas. The birds had a tendency to rally around their fallen flockmates.

Parrots 217

Parrots Hunters United States North America 217

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

We have photographs and newspaper obituaries of Martha, the last living Passenger Pigeon, who died after a lifetime in captivity, mostly in the Cincinnati Zoo. I think that Avery was reaching for a portrait of the modern United States, the one that replaced the vast forests, but it just doesn’t work.

2014 159

2014 Killing Michigan Kentucky 159

10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2011

Living in Colorado, I was practically next door neighbors to a Spix’s Macaw, “Presley,” who was discovered in an Evergreen living room—the only known Spix’s Macaw in the United States—and who was repatriated to Brazil before I even knew he existed. Karla Lucas feels the same way about Spix’s Macaw !

Brazil 196

Brazil 2011 Birds Wildlife 196