# Passenger pigeon (*Ectopistes migratorius*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/passenger-pigeon  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) is an extinct bird of the family Columbidae, subfamily Columbinae, in the order Columbiformes. It is classed as a small bird, with an adult body mass of 298.5 g and a body length of 32 cm. It laid 1 egg per clutch and 1 clutch per year, with an egg incubation period of 13 days. The IUCN Red List places the passenger pigeon in the category Extinct (EX), and its lifespan is given as 15 years.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 298.5 g |
| Length | 32 cm |
| Lifespan | 15 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | forest |
| Egg incubation | 13 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Extinct (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Columbiformes
- family: Columbidae
- genus: Ectopistes
- species: *Ectopistes migratorius* (Linnaeus, 1766)

Synonyms: *Columba migratoria*

## Common questions

### Is the passenger pigeon extinct?

Yes. The passenger pigeon is listed as extinct by the Catalogue of Life and as Extinct (EX) on the IUCN Red List.

### What kind of animal is the passenger pigeon?

The passenger pigeon is a bird of the family Columbidae, subfamily Columbinae, in the order Columbiformes.

### How big was the passenger pigeon?

The passenger pigeon had an adult body mass of 298.5 g and a body length of 32 cm, which places it in the small size class.

### How long did the passenger pigeon live?

The lifespan of the passenger pigeon is given as 15 years.

### How many eggs did the passenger pigeon lay?

The passenger pigeon laid 1 egg per clutch and 1 clutch per year. The egg incubation period was 13 days.

### What other names does the passenger pigeon have?

Other English names for the passenger pigeon are Wild pigeon and Homing pigeon.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/passenger-pigeon