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A Record of the Passenger Pigeon in Alberta

1971; Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club; Volume: 85; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5962/p.343467

0008-3550

Hugh C. Smith, R.S. Kidd,

Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

Osteological material excavated from the Fort George archeological site was identified as Passenger Pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius; this confirms its Occurrence in Alberta.Several authors (Milton and Cheadle, 1901;Wright, 1911;Cooke, 1912;Farley, 1932) have referred to sightings of the Passenger Pigeon in Alberta but because no specimens collected within the province have been preserved, Salt and Wilk (1968) placed it on their hypothetical list.Recently during an examination of avian osteological material at the Provincial Museum and Archives of Alberta, Edmonton, several bones were identified as those of a Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius).These bones, recovered in 1966 and 1967 from the Fort George archaeological site, were tentatively identified by comparison with a photograph in an article by Shufeldt (1914).Subsequently, this identification was confirmed by Dr.Howard Savage of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.Fourteen elements, representing at least two individuals, are in the group of bones and include two portions of the sternum, three humeri, two coracoids, two scapulae, and one each of a tibiotarsus, femur, ulna, furcula, and vertebra.All these bones with the exception of one humerus were found probably in association, and certainly in one locality of the Fort George site.Fort George was occupied by fur traders of the North West Company from 1792 until approximately 1800.The site, excavated by the Provincial Museum and Archives in 1965-67, is located on the north bank of the North Saskatchewan River, an estimated 170 feet above present river level.It is approximately 5 miles southeast of the town of Elk Point, which is about 35 miles west of the Saskatchewan-Alberta border.Faunal remains were generally abundant at the site and included such species as bison, wapiti, moose, beaver, rabbit, Trumpeter Swan, geese, ducks, and upland game birds.Most of the Passenger Pigeon bones were excavated from a large cellar depression near the northwest corner of the palisaded enclosure; one humerus, however, came from a cellar near the southwest corner.Although no references to Pas-