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Help Doc About Passenger Pigeons Get Made

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Audubon’s painting of Passenger Pigeons.

Their wings darkened the sky over North America for more than 12 hours as they flew past. Just one flock stretched 300 miles long and a mile wide and included more than 3 billion birds. But in a span of just 50 years, the Passenger Pigeon went from one of the most abundant birds in the world to extinct.

The story of the Passenger Pigeon is one we shouldn’t forget because up to 5 billion individual vanished from hunting and the loss of habitat, a direct result of human intervention. That’s why filmmaker David Mrazek and a few others are setting out to make a documentary about the bird called “From Billions to None: The Passenger Pigeon’s Flight to Extinction.”

The film is angling to explore what went wrong with the Passenger Pigeon and what could go right for currently endangered species like the Whooping Crane.

The only problem is that the film hasn’t been made yet. The team behind the project is currently seeking public support to finance the film. They’ve already raised $24,650, but their goal is $65,000 with only 11 days left. They’re trying to get the film out by Sept. 1, 2014 — the hundredth anniversary of the death of Marta, the last living Passenger Pigeon.

If you’re interested in seeing this potentially powerful film, check out their support page at Indiegogo.

Here’s the promo video:

https://web.archive.org/web/20141019112636/http://vimeo.com/62783000

Timothy Martinez Jr. is a writer and freelance journalist. His work has been published in The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, Remapping Debate in New York City and other publications. He’s been a bird lover since he was young and currently lives in New Orleans, L.A.