Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsEight of these ten birds are regarded as extinct; the Turquoise-Throated Puffleg and Ivory-Billed Woodpecker remain uncertain because later sightings have not been confirmed. Their histories show how hunting, habitat loss, collecting, and introduced predators can combine to drive bird populations to collapse.
Which birds are gone, and when were they last recorded?
“Last seen” can mean different things: the final confirmed observation in the wild, the last known individual, or the death of the final captive bird. The dates below preserve those distinctions. An unconfirmed sighting is not proof that a species survives, but it does mean extinction cannot be stated with the same certainty as for a bird with a documented final individual.
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| Bird | Range | Last record in the available account | Extinction status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laughing Owl (Sceloglaux albifacies) | New Zealand | Last known bird found dead in Canterbury, July 5, 1914 | Extinct |
| Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) | Eastern United States | Last known wild bird killed in 1904; final captive bird died February 21, 1918, at Cincinnati Zoo | Extinct |
| Turquoise-Throated Puffleg (Eriocnemis godini) | Ecuador | Known from nineteenth-century specimens; an unconfirmed sighting was reported in 1976 | Unresolved; no confirmed record since the nineteenth century |
| Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) | North America | Martha, the last known individual, died September 1, 1914, at Cincinnati Zoo | Extinct |
| Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) | North Atlantic | Last live bird seen in 1852 | Extinct |
| Choiseul Crested Pigeon (Microgoura meeki) | Solomon Islands | Not recorded since 1904 | Extinct |
| Cuban Macaw (Ara tricolor) | Cuba | Last seen in 1855 | Extinct |
| Ivory-Billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) | United States | No confirmed sighting since 1944 | Unresolved; later claims remain unconfirmed |
| Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) | Mauritius | A definitive last-sighting date is not established in the available account | Extinct |
| Kauaʻi ʻōʻō (Moho braccatus) | Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi | Last male recorded singing in 1985; he died in 1987 | Extinct |
How human activity drove these birds toward extinction
Extinction rarely has a single cause. In several of these cases, people changed the landscape or removed birds directly; introduced animals or disease then added pressure. The specific combination differed from island to island and species to species.
Laughing Owl
The laughing owl’s decline followed habitat modification in New Zealand. Collectors also took specimens, while introduced mammal predators—including cats—threatened the birds. Its final known individual was found dead in Canterbury in 1914.
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Carolina Parakeet
Settlement and agriculture reduced habitat across the parakeet’s eastern U.S. range. People also killed birds they regarded as crop pests, captured them for the pet trade, and sought their feathers for fashion. The final wild bird was killed in 1904; the last captive bird died at Cincinnati Zoo in 1918.
Turquoise-Throated Puffleg
This Ecuadorian hummingbird is known from only a handful of nineteenth-century specimens. The record is too sparse to establish exactly why it disappeared, or even to confirm that it has disappeared: no later record is confirmed, but the reported 1976 sighting was not verified. It is therefore more accurate to describe the puffleg as possibly extinct than to call it definitively gone.
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Passenger Pigeon
The passenger pigeon was once among North America’s most abundant birds, but abundance did not protect it from commercial exploitation. Telegraph and railroad networks made it possible for hunters to coordinate large-scale killing and ship birds to distant markets. Martha, the last known pigeon, died in captivity at Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.
Great Auk
The great auk could not fly, making its eggs and adults vulnerable to people who hunted it for food and feathers. Helen James, a research zoologist at the Natural History Museum, summarized the central pressure this way: “Overharvesting by people doomed the species to extinction.” The last live great auk was seen in 1852.
Choiseul Crested Pigeon
Known from preserved skins and an egg, this Solomon Islands pigeon has not been recorded since 1904. Introduced feral dogs and, especially, cats are blamed for its disappearance. Its history illustrates the danger that non-native predators can pose to birds with little protection against them.
Cuban Macaw
The Cuban macaw disappeared amid several pressures: people hunted it, cut down nest trees to take young birds, and traded the birds as pets. Storms added another threat to an already vulnerable island population. The last record is from 1855.
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Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
Logging of virgin forest removed the large, intact woodland associated with the ivory-billed woodpecker, while hunting also contributed to its historic decline. Reports after 1944 have not been confirmed. Because survival remains possible, its status should not be presented as settled extinction.
Dodo
The dodo evolved on Mauritius without the same need to flee from human hunters as many mainland birds. That lack of wariness made it easier for settlers and sailors to hunt. Introduced pigs and other invasive animals also preyed on nests, adding a threat to reproduction. Eugenia Gold of the American Museum of Natural History has described how the birds’ lack of fear made them easy prey.
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Kauaʻi ʻōʻō
This Hawaiian nectar-feeding songbird was reduced by habitat destruction, black rats, pigs, and mosquito-borne disease. The remaining population dwindled to a final pair. The male was recorded singing in 1985; he died in 1987, and no surviving bird is known.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What these extinctions teach us about conservation
- Abundance is not a safeguard. The passenger pigeon’s former numbers could not offset commercial hunting once transport and communication made mass harvesting practical.
- Several pressures can compound. Habitat loss, direct killing, trade, and introduced predators or disease often acted together rather than one at a time.
- Island birds can be especially exposed to introduced threats. The dodo, laughing owl, Choiseul crested pigeon, and Kauaʻi ʻōʻō each faced pressures associated with predators or other changes brought by people.
- Records matter when a species becomes rare. Audubon’s February 10, 2025 report describes how historical eBird checklists help preserve last-sighting records for extinct U.S. species, drawing on submissions from birders, archivists, museums, and families. Such documentation helps distinguish a confirmed final record from later, unverified reports.
- Uncertainty should be named, not erased. The puffleg’s unconfirmed 1976 report and the ivory-billed woodpecker’s unconfirmed later claims do not establish survival, but they do make a definitive extinction statement inappropriate.
A 2021 Treehugger article estimated that people had contributed to the extinction of approximately 150 bird species over the preceding five centuries and said more than 1,300 other bird species were threatened. Those figures are the article’s estimates; no original statistical publication is identified here.
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