Martha was the last passenger pigeon and she was named "Martha" in honor of the first Lady Martha Washington. The passenger pigeon died on September 1, 1914, at a zoo in Cincinnati.

She was a star in her days with Scarlet eyes and peach-colored breast. Around the last days of her life, people used to line up to see her. According to scientists, passenger pigeons were among the most found species of birds in the world at that time.

Now the birds are extinct and the major reason for extinction is human activity. The group of birds used to move from forest to forest, looking and searching for seed and nuts. After they were done with one forest they would frequently move to another forest and not return to the earlier one until it had sufficient time to develop.

The countdown for the passenger pigeons began when the Europeans came to North America and started cutting down forests to build room for farmland. Soon after this, the pigeons were targeted by the hunters also.

The pigeons were also hunted by animal predators but they were killed in big numbers by humans. Hunters killed the pigeons by using nets, guns and toxic fumes. The pigeons were sold as inexpensive source of protein. These birds were also killed for sport, commerce and fun.

A large number of birds used to fly together and they used to cover the whole vast regions, blotting out even the sun. Passenger pigeon wings were used to fill potholes in many areas.

Martha lived as the only existing passenger pigeon for about 12 years and one day she died because of natural causes. She was frozen into 135kg of ice and now showcased at the Smithsonian Museum of National History.