La Grange Park Filmmaker Chronicles Passenger Pigeon's Demise

A pulsating cloud of birds filling the North American skies sounds like something out of a horror movie.

But it was a common sight during the 1800s as wave upon wave of passenger pigeons journeyed through the air.

And then, in what La Grange Park filmmaker David Mrazek refers to as a “geological heartbeat,” there were none.

Mrazek is creating a documentary film that will be a pivotal part of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum’s Project Passenger Pigeon campaign to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the bird’s extinction.

Though much of the film has been shot, Mrazek has less than a week to reach his $65,000 fundraising goal to finish the project, which he hopes to distribute via Cincinnati’s PBS station.

"From Billions to None: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction," co-produced with author and naturalist Joel Greenberg, will chronicle the bird’s demise as a result of reckless hunting and deforestation. 

“What is so amazing is that this is a creature that numbered in the billions, that literally darkened the skies,” Mrazek said. “And yet humans caused them to be wiped out in around 50 years.” 

Read more about the project—and what we can learn from the passenger pigeons’ untimely downfall—in a Q&A with Mrazek. Visit his Indiegogo page by June 10 if you’re interested in supporting the film.

Patch: What do you hope people learn from this story?

Mrazek: Naturalist, author and co-producer Joel Greenberg and I hope that the centennial of the extinction will cause people to look anew at issues related to conservation of habitat and animal populations, both locally and around the world. Issues such as overfishing have a perfect parallel to what happened to the passenger pigeon. There were people back in the 1870s saying that the ruthless hunting could cause the birds to go extinct, but most people scoffed and said "There are so many; they can't possibly go extinct." That's what many people say about the fish in the ocean. But it's simply not true. 

How are you tying in the passenger pigeons' extinction to threats against species today?

We are interviewing various scientists at work today, dealing with threats, such as Boris Worm, professor of Marine Biology at Dalhousie University, who studies worldwide fisheries data, and sees one third of all shark populations threatened with potential extinction—due to being caught as by-catch in nets meant for other fish and for shark fin soup. Other major fish populations are seen to be dropping to unsustainable levels if worldwide fishing continues at its current rate. 

How do you practice sustainability in your own life?

Well, I recycle everything possible. I have a rain barrel. I compost all organic material in a compost bin in my backyard. (My wife is horrified, but I even compost our dog's shaved fur. And dryer lint. Yes, it is compostable!) We have created a communal vegetable garden out of the shared area of former grassy lawn between one of our neighbors, and it has been a great experience. I walk with my daughter a half-mile to Ogden Avenue School and back, instead of driving. Every little bit helps. I am also a volunteer member of the La Grange Park Cool Village Commission, a group of citizens devoted to reducing the carbon footprint of our community. Get involved!