A tale of two birds

     I think of two birds when I think of the first Thanksgiving.
     First is the Passenger Pigeon. I surmise that Passenger Pigeons were part of that first

Thanksgiving meal, because these birds were once so prevalent in America’s skies and were a good source of food for people. History tells us that Passenger Pigeon flocks were once so big that they would darken the sky. So they were frequently hunted by Native Americans and new Americans alike.  Up until about 1900, people netted them and shot them regularly with no notion that the species could ever be in danger. But the combination of hunting and habitat destruction all added up to a once-abundant species simply vanishing. The timing wasn’t too good for Passenger Pigeons because until the 20^th Century, people weren’t too concerned about things like conservation and preservation of species.
      The timing was a little better for the Wild Turkey. These birds were once abundant in America,

too. So they could well have been part of the first Thanksgiving meal. Of course, turkey has been the traditional plate of the holiday ever since. But the fate of the Wild Turkey could easily have been that of the Passenger Pigeon had we not paid attention to the dwindling numbers of these birds. It was in the early part of the 20^th Century that people began noticing the decline of the species, and by the 1940s the situation was so dire that conservationists began trapping and moving the birds to more favorable habitats. Now, thanks to those conservation efforts, hunting regulation and licensing, and organizations such as the National Wild TurkeyFederation, these grand birds have become a healthy and prosperous lot once again.
     For those of us who live in suburbs, seeing a Wild Turkey would be rare. But for people who live in rural areas, it is not uncommon for Wild Turkeys to stroll into their yards and even snatch food from their platform feeders. I passed a home in the North Carolina mountains once, and saw three Wild Turkeys on their deck!
    So the return of the Wild Turkey is something we can all be thankful for.
    I don’t expect to see a Wild Turkey in my yard any time soon. But here is what I did see today:

(AM, partly cloudy, 52 degrees, 20 minutes)

Carolina Chickadee
Northern Cardinal
White-throated Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Mourning Dove
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Dark-eyed Junco