PassengerPigeon_Myriads_Casto_Stan_SeguinTX_1March2024_Reel4194.mp3

Stan Casto [00:00:00] The passenger pigeon was primarily a bird of the forest. It preferred to nest and roost in woodlands composed largely of oaks. It nested in southern Canada, and southward into Montana, Minnesota, Michigan, Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Georgia. The rookeries, which often covered hundreds of acres, contained thousands of birds, each pair laying only a single egg.

Stan Casto [00:00:27] In the fall, the flocks migrated south, arriving at their roosts in Texas in late September or early October. Each day, the birds would depart from their roost in search of food, primarily acorns, but also seeds, fruit, and insects. The birds arrived back at their roosts near sundown, where hunters would often be waiting for them. This routine of the birds continued daily, with most flocks departing Texas by the 1st of March...

Stan Casto [00:00:58] The forests of northeastern Texas were a favored location, and large numbers of birds overwintered in roosts along the headwaters of the Trinity and Neches Rivers. At irregular intervals during the 19th century, immense numbers of pigeons also penetrated as far south as often in San Antonio, and even as far west as Edwards County, in their search for food...

Stan Casto [00:01:25] There just aren't hardly enough words in the dictionary to describe the size of the flocks. There are reports of the number of pigeons, but these are all subjective estimates, because there was no way to obtain an accurate account of the number of birds present. The flocks were described by contemporary observers and in newspaper accounts as consisting of "thousands", "millions", "myriads", or such an enormous number that they actually darkened the sky.

Stan Casto [00:01:53] The combined weight of the birds in roost was so great that branches were broken from the trees, and the accumulated guano was so deep that it actually killed the underlying vegetation...

Stan Casto [00:02:05] Passenger pigeons have been seen and recorded in at least 68 counties in Texas, encompassing an area lying east from a line starting at Montague County on the Red River, to Howard County in the West, to Kinney County in the south, and southeast to Calhoun County on the Gulf Coast. In other words, almost the entirety of East Texas was occupied by passenger pigeons at some time or another...

Stan Casto [00:02:35] Passenger pigeons were an awesome force of nature, and even though they're gone, we still remember them by seven obscure place names commemorating their role in the history of the Lone Star State.

Stan Casto [00:02:49] Pigeon Roost, near Kountze in Hardin County, was reportedly named for an enormous roost once found in that area. The second, Pigeon Roost Prairie, located 4 to 5 miles south of Grand Saline in Van Zandt County, is also named for a long-used roost in the surrounding forest. Pigeon Roost Creek in southwestern Bandera County, is named for a large roost along its banks during the winters of 1869 and 1870. An elevation in Rust County is known simply as Pigeon Hill. Other place names include Pigeon Roost Hollow in Bastrop County, Pigeon Roost Branch in Houston County, and Pigeon Creek in Sabine County.

Stan Casto [00:03:35] And again, we assume that these names were given as a result of passenger pigeons, at one time or another, being or roosting in that particular area.