One of the most abundant birds of North America, it's population in the early 1800's was once more than the number of individuals in North America. Over a century later, there was only one passenger pigeon left, which later died in the Cincinatti Zoo. These pigeons lived in flocks of 2 million or more. A person described a flock of migrating passenger pigeons as "a sky of black" which took three days to pass. This species has ben eradicated due to illegal hunting for their meat, which is surprisingly good. It is still hard to believe that a species which migrated in flocks of over 2 million bird is now extinct.

The great auk, also a flightless bird, was last seen in Scotland in 1840. Fishermen captured a great auk and brought it along on their ship. A few days later, a terrible storm struck the fishermen. Superstitiously, the fishermen blamed the storm on the great auk and called it a "maelstrom-conjuring witch". The great auk was then killed. This "witch" was the last great auk seen in the British Isles. 4 years later, a pair were spotted on an island off the coast of Iceland. The fishermen raced to kill them. During the chase, the pair's egg was crusjed by a fisherman's boot. That was the end of the great auks.