Best POD for the survival of the passenger pigeon?

I would assume that serious efforts at creating protected nesting zones prior to 1879 or so would be needed along with actual state and fedral enforcment of such proctected zones(akin to what occured with American Bison in yellowstone, after sympathy for them developed of course).

Of course as any such timeline would presumably call for a stronger and earlier conservation movmentin the united states one would need there bew public sentiment behind that, and Im not sure how plausible that would be this early on.

I posted this in before 1900 because by 1900 I dont thin k it would be possible to avert the species demise.

If any one has any ideas for earlier or later dates, or specific events that had a large impact on the species decline feel free to discuss that here as well.
 

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The protected nesting zones don't necessarily need to be protected for the pigeon's sake. For example, forest land could be set aside as a hunting preserve for deer to manufacture buckskin, providing a nesting site for at least one flock of pigeons to survive. When they're reduced to the only surviving flock in the early 20th century, environmentalist concerns take over and hunting is banned allowing the flock to survive and multiply.

Their survival could be the butterfly effect of a political POD. A successful Confederate secession, a balkanized post-independence US, a wider variety of European settler states, or a Native American wank could all result in formerly warring nations in North America agreeing to "demilitarized zones" along a contested border. People fearful of resumed hostilities will neither settle, hunt, or harvest timber in the demilitarized zone, giving the passenger pigeon a space where it can survive.
 
So how about, the captive breeding in 1900s succeeds?

Very hard-the pigeons need a critical mass of numbers to feel secure enough to breed, something that was not realized until it was far, far too late and too few were available in zoos. Perhaps putting them in a mini-aviary surrounded by European pigeons could simulate that environment?
 
When were last pigeons successfully brought up in captivity?
Well martha who I belive was captive her entire life was appearently born in 1885 and as the last of the species should be of signifigance. Idealy you might want to start before 1880 or so. However given that they only usccesfully bred In large flocks you would want to intervene before the population dropped below 100.
 
David Whittaker, of Milwaukee, started keeping passenger pigeons in 1888, and owned 19 birds by 1897, all descended from a single pair. Then he sold all the 19 to Charles Whitman of Chicago.
In 1898, Whitman returned 7 birds to Whittaker.
By 1902, Whitman was up to 16 birds, so at least 4 must have been raised between 1897 and 1902.
 
David Whittaker, of Milwaukee, started keeping passenger pigeons in 1888, and owned 19 birds by 1897, all descended from a single pair. Then he sold all the 19 to Charles Whitman of Chicago.
In 1898, Whitman returned 7 birds to Whittaker.
By 1902, Whitman was up to 16 birds, so at least 4 must have been raised between 1897 and 1902.

There is hellish bottle neck. In other hand IIRC bisons too descend from only few bisons.
 
There is hellish bottle neck. In other hand IIRC bisons too descend from only few bisons.

Yes.
So what about a small PoD?
OTL, passenger pigeon did not pass through. The 19 birds in 1897 did hatch a few young, but too few. By 1907, it was I think under 10 elderly and infertile birds left, and in 1910 it was just 1.

Small PoD: a captive flock of 30 pigeons by 1900, not the OTL 19.
Poor breeding success, but better than OTL. By 1910, 40 birds.
What next?
 
David Whittaker, of Milwaukee, started keeping passenger pigeons in 1888, and owned 19 birds by 1897, all descended from a single pair. Then he sold all the 19 to Charles Whitman of Chicago.
In 1898, Whitman returned 7 birds to Whittaker.
By 1902, Whitman was up to 16 birds, so at least 4 must have been raised between 1897 and 1902.

I wouldnt call raising 16 fairly imbred birds much of a success in preserving the species, by that point there was very little genetic diversity left and it seems he did not attempt to locate other birds to increase the diversity of his flock which began decling after reaching 15 or 16 birds and either I am overtly fatigued or he never actually had 19 adult birds, 16 was the highes number i saw listed amongst these articles. I mean if he donated all his birds perhaps a breeding flock of over 30 could have been started, if he had any idea the species was on the brink which I do not think he did. So maaaybe just maybe a post 1900 POD could have worked, BUT if it had the species would still be suffering gentic problems to this day akin to american bison and asian cheetahs.

The point here is to try to find the best POD that is one where the species remains as healthy as plausible after the united states wins the revolutionary war or so.

{ https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Passenger_Pigeon/Chapter_XVII http://www.slate.com/culture/2018/02/five-reasons-why-you-might-bet-usd1-million-on-the-eagles.html }These being the only sources I've found for your information during and admittedly breif search of mine.
 
Yes.
So what about a small PoD?
OTL, passenger pigeon did not pass through. The 19 birds in 1897 did hatch a few young, but too few. By 1907, it was I think under 10 elderly and infertile birds left, and in 1910 it was just 1.

Small PoD: a captive flock of 30 pigeons by 1900, not the OTL 19.
Poor breeding success, but better than OTL. By 1910, 40 birds.
What next?

Assuming these were a few combined flocks you might be able to raise the numbers up a bit but the risk of disease would mean ideally after doubling in size splitting thewm into two flocks would probably be a smart idea, but being optimistic, with increased public outreach(lets assume ww1 doesnt happen or is delayed until the 20's) for wildlife earlier in the century the poulation mioght reach a sustainable 200 or so by maybe....1957 perhaps? at which point the struggle would be to convince people not to shoot them en mass again given how easy they were to poach in OTL.
 
So how about, the captive breeding in 1900s succeeds?
not enough by that time, you need a POD in at least the 1860's-1880's. I like the idea of a DMZ type situation between the North and South. That would leave a large swath of land to go wild or remain wild.
 
I believe the species was essentially extinct in the wild by 1900, with a few dozen surviving in captivity. If, somehow, John James Audubon had spoken out against the mass shootings that were not uncommon in the 19th century, and aroused public consciousness, perhaps the decline toward extinction could have been slowed sufficiently to have perhaps a few thousand in the wild by the early 1900s. Then, a conservation-minded Theodore Roosevelt would have spoken out in favor of protecting the species. Today, assuming all that were successful, the passenger pigeon would probably be off the endangered list, but it wouldn't be as common as, say, the black-capped chickadee.

Similar efforts a few decades later might have saved the heath hen and the Carolina paroquet (bird field guides in the early 1940s held out faint hope that there might have been small numbers of survivors in remote bottomlands in the south, but that hope has long since been abandoned).
 

Kaze

Banned
The easiest POD for the survival of the passenger pigeon is that the pigeon is able to be bred in captivity and is large enough to carry messages between people. In Real life, the pigeon message service helped the life-span of the carrier pigeon.
 
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