Severson Dells

Nature columnist Dr. Robert Hedeen wrote a nice story recently, Severson Dells Nature Center: preserving the natural history of northern Illinois, for the Rock River Times.

Dr. Hedeen included the picture below of the glass case in our bird library that is filled with mounted birds and mammals that were once found in northern Illinois. There are prairie chickens, ruffed grouse and raptors. But the plum of the diorama is a passenger pigeon,(see the dove-like bird with the orange breast to the left in the center of the picture). Passenger pigeons were once was so common that flocks of migrating birds would block the sun like a cloud during the migration. The passenger pigeon was hunted to extinction in the early 1900s.
Coincidentally, in the March/April WildBird magazine, Severson Dells member and Pecatonica resident Ann Whitney wrote a letter to the editor explaining how the case came to Severson Dells from the home of an elderly woman in Pecatonica.

Ann wrote:

“The story was that all of these birds and mammals were shot and mounted by this woman’s husband’s uncle in and around northwest Illinois.

“Unfortunately, this woman became ill and died. Her graddaughter bought the house and wanted nothing to do with the ‘ugly birds’ in the case. The son wanted to sell it until I informed him (in a nice way) that it would be illegal to sell due to the protected nature of most of the birds (with the exception of the passenger pigeon).

“Long story short: I helped them find a local nature center and they donated the case to this center. The center, Severson Dells Nature Center, specializes in educational opportunities for children. Now the public can enjoy themounted birds as well as the passenger pigeon, knowing that these birds all lived in this area at one time.”

The story of the passenger pigeon is another grim reminder of the impact humans have had on the environment. Nature is not endlessly bountiful, as the extinction of massive clouds of birds as far as the eye could see attests.