The community of Petoskey, Michigan, will remember the now extinct Passenger pigeon with events during the week of June 15, 2026. The vision is: to recall by word, experience,  and art the tragic story of the wild Passenger pigeon in Petoskey, thereby fostering a greater love for our land, water, and wildlife.  

 

Activities include art and history talks, nature and bird walks, and will close with the  unveiling of a cast bronze sculpture dedicated to “The Great Petoskey Passenger Pigeon  Nesting of 1878.” Artist Todd McGrain is the sculptor, and through his "Lost Bird Project," he has created permanent public memorials to birds driven to extinction, combining visual arts and storytelling to raise awareness of human impact on the natural world. He will be present throughout the week at events.  

 

The Danser family of Petoskey invited McGrain to place the sculpture in Petoskey as a monument to Petoskey’s historic place in the passenger pigeon story. Petoskey is historically recognized as the site of the last large nesting of passenger pigeons in the world. The unveiling of the sculpture will take place on Friday, June 19, at 11:00 am, in front of The Danser Professional Building, 308 State Street, Petoskey.  

 

Speaking on behalf of the Danser family, Abbott McCartney said, “Hopefully, the monument will be an enduring reminder of our interconnectedness with all living creatures and our responsibility to care for our fragile earth that sustains all life. Looking back, we now recognize the harmful practices that led to the passenger pigeon’s extinction, despite their enormous numbers. Looking forward, may this tragic story lead us and future generations  to be steadfast in safeguarding our beautiful planet and its web of life.”  

 

The commemorative week is supported by numerous collaborating partners, including the  Emmet County Historical Commission, Little Traverse Conservancy, State Historic Parks,  Petoskey Regional Audubon Society, Crooked Tree Arts Center, and City of Petoskey Art  Commission.

 

Calendar of Events:  

  • Monday, June 15 – “The Unlikely Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon” kickoƯ talk with Kyle  Bagnall, Park Naturalist, exploring records from early explorers and tales of nesting birds.  Hosted at 7 p.m. at the Little Traverse History Museum.  
  • Tuesday, June 16 – a narrated birding walk along the Bear River at 8 am hosted by Petoskey  Regional Audubon Society, meet at Bear River Shelter.  
  • Wednesday, June 17 - A guided nature walk exploring the pigeon's relationship with local forests, led by Dylan Klinesteker and Jess Piskor. Hosted at 4 pm, the OƯield Family  Viewlands. Also taking place this day at 7 pm is the Lost Bird Project film screening and remarks with Artist Todd McGrain at Crooked Tree Arts Center.  
  • Thursday, June 18 hosts four events. CoƯee @ 10 Talk with remarks from Todd McGrain on the design and casting of the bronze monument, hosted at 10 am at the Crooked Tree Arts  Center. Family activities with artist Todd McGrain take place at the Little Traverse History  Museum at 2 pm. Teachers are invited to the Little Traverse History Museum at 3 pm to share teaching approaches to the passenger pigeon story. Passenger Pigeons in Petoskey, a lecture on the history of the birds in the area with Executive Director Jane Garver, will be hosted at the Little Traverse History Museum at 7 pm.  
  • Friday, June 19 - The new Passenger pigeon sculpture and public art piece will be revealed at the Danser Professional Building at 308 State Street at 11 am. The event will feature a reading from Aldo Leopold and a performance of the "Ballad of the Passenger Pigeon" by local singer-songwriter Linda Hammond.  

All activities are free and open to all. More information can be found at www.petoskeymuseum.org.  

 

Passenger Pigeon History:  

Passenger pigeons were beautiful, peach-breasted migratory birds that became extinct in the wild by the end of the 1800s. They were social. They would fly together in enormous flocks, darkening the sky for hours. Passenger pigeons were the most abundant bird in the world and were estimated to be 40 percent of the entire North American bird population before their decline and eventual extinction.  

 

In 1895, a lifelong observer of wild Passenger pigeons in Michigan described them as “the  most beautiful flowers of the animal creation in North America.” This eyewitness was a  Native American Anishinaabe tribal chief (Chief Simon Pokagon). The “omiimii” (oh- mee-MEE), the Anishinaabe word for the Passenger pigeon, had long lived alongside the  Anishinaabe people throughout the Great Lakes region. The Anishinaabe relied upon the omiimii as an important food source, hunting only for their own tribal needs. This safeguarded the omiimii population for the future.  

 

A commercial market, however, developed around Passenger pigeons during the latter half of the 1800s. Wild Passenger pigeons were considered tasty, low-cost game meat. Live birds were captured for trap shooting.  

 

The commercial Passenger pigeon trade became important to Petoskey’s economy by the  1870s. During that time, commercial hunters flocked to forests around Petoskey in the spring when Passenger pigeons were nesting and chicks, known as “squabs,” were hatching. Indeed, the last large nesting of Passenger pigeons in the world, before extinction, occurred in Petoskey in 1878. The commercial hunters killed and netted them by the millions, shipping them in barrels and cages by rail and steamship from Petoskey to  Midwest and East Coast markets.