Pigeon disasters
Passenger Pigeon
Probably the greatest disaster to befall the species was the extermination of the passenger pigeon in North America in the early part of the 20th century. It is estimated that there were 3-5 billion passenger pigeons in North America at the time. Flocks of 100,000s of the birds would blacken the skies as they flew over, but early settlers managed to wipe out every last bird by 1914 through over-hunting.
Passenger Pigeon
Great Pigeon Race 1997
A more recent and quite bizarre disaster befell tens of thousands of racing pigeons released from Nantes in France as part of a race held to celebrate the centenary of the Royal Pigeon Racing Association in England. 60,000 pigeons were released but only a few birds ever arrived back at their lofts throughout southern England.
One theory suggests that the sonic boom created by Concorde as it flew over the English Channel, at the precise time the pigeons would have been at the same point, completely disorientated the birds, throwing out their inbuilt navigation system.
