Empty Skies

The Passenger Pigeon Legacy

This exhibition is a thought-provoking exploration of the extinction of a species at the time of the ROM’s inception. The Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius), known as one of the most abundant species in the world in the 19th century, became extinct only 100 years later as a result of human actions. The last known Passenger Pigeon died on September 1, 1914 in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.  ROM holds the world’s largest collection of Passenger Pigeons, which continues to be used for research today.

The Passenger Pigeon story creates discussion around conservation and the future of our planet, as other species teeter on the brink of extinction.