Meanings
plural passenger pigeons
- A bird of the extinct species †Ectopistes migratorius, formerly endemic to North America.
Revive & Restore, a branch of the Long Now Foundation, is currently attempting to de-extinct the passenger pigeon in a project called The Great Comeback.
2020, “Life Finds A Way”, in Jonathan Elmore, editor, Fiction and the Sixth Mass Extinction, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN1 more example
Martha was a remnant of a species that had once dominated North America; it is estimated that there were as many as four billion – yes, billion – passenger pigeons when the Europeans arrived.
2012 June 27, Helen Lewis, “Sense of an endling”, in New Statesman, archived from the original on 11 Jul 2012
Synonyms & antonyms
noungregarious North American migratory pigeon now extinct
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Bulgarian странстващ гълъб
- странстващ гълъб (stranstvašt gălăb)an extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Chinese Mandarin 旅鴿 /旅鸽
- 旅鴿 /旅鸽 (lǚgē)an extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Czech holub stěhovavý
- holub stěhovavýan extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Danish vandredue, amerikanske vandredue
- vandreduean extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
- amerikanske vandreduean extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Dutch trekduif
- trekduifan extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Esperanto migrokolombo
- migrokolomboan extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Finnish muuttokyyhky
- muuttokyyhkyan extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
French tourte voyageuse, pigeon migrateur
- tourte voyageusean extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
- pigeon migrateuran extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
- colombe voyageusean extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
German Wandertaube
- Wandertaubean extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Hebrew יונה נודדת
- יונה נודדתan extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Hungarian vándorgalamb
- vándorgalamban extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Icelandic flökkudúfa
- flökkudúfaan extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Indonesian merpati penumpang
- merpati penumpangan extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Italian piccione migratore, colomba migratrice
- piccione migratorean extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
- colomba migratricean extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Japanese 旅行鳩
- 旅行鳩 (ryokōbato)an extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Lithuanian keleivis karvelis
- keleivis karvelisan extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Norwegian Bokmål vandredue
- vandreduean extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Polish gołąb wędrowny
- gołąb wędrownyan extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Portuguese pombo-passageiro
- pombo-passageiroan extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Russian странствующий го́лубь
- странствующий го́лубь (stranstvujuščij gólubʹ)an extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Slovak holub sťahovavý
- holub sťahovavýan extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Spanish paloma migratoria
- paloma migratoriaan extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Swedish vandringsduva
- vandringsduvaan extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Ukrainian мандрівний голуб
- мандрівний голуб (mandrivnyj holub)an extinct bird of the species Ectopistes migratorius
Cite this entry
passenger pigeon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/passenger%20pigeon
“passenger pigeon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/passenger%20pigeon. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “passenger pigeon,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/passenger%20pigeon.
Source: passenger pigeon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.