Booming Ben
Last known heath hen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Booming Ben (c. 1924 – March 11, 1932) was the last confirmed heath hen, a subspecies of the greater prairie chicken.[1] He was last spotted on Martha's Vineyard in the US state of Massachusetts on March 11, 1932.[2] His death marked the extinction of the heath hen.[3]
Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, US
Alfred Otto Gross holding Booming Ben | |
| Species | Tympanuchus cupido cupido |
|---|---|
| Sex | Male |
| Hatched | c. 1924 Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, US |
| Died | Last spotted in March 11, 1932 (aged 7–8) |
| Known for | Last known Heath Hen |
Background
Heath hens experienced significant population decline due to hunting practices during the colonial period,[4][5] with all remaining birds on Martha's Vineyard by 1870, despite their prior range across the East Coast of the United States.[3] Ornithologists began tracking the population in 1908.[5]
With conservation efforts, the population grew from 100 to around 2,000 by 1916. However, a 1916 fire dropped the population down to 150,[6] with many of the surviving birds being male.[3][5] The following years included a particularly harsh winter, followed by spread of disease among the Heath hen population. Additionally, the small population led to inbreeding, resulting in genetic issues that left many birds infertile.[4]
In 1925, the Federation of the Bird Clubs of New England proffered $2,000 annually toward conservation efforts. However, by the beginning of 1927, only 11 males and 2 females remained. By the fall of 1928, only two males remained, with only Booming Ben surviving as of December of that year.[5]
Death
Despite his name, Booming Ben was silent in the final years of his life.[5] Gross attempted to mate Booming Ben with a Wisconsin prairie chicken to no avail.[7] Many expected him to die before 1930.[5] Before Ben's death, American ornithologist Alfred Otto Gross of Bowdoin College and American conservationist Thornton W. Burgess attached an identification tag to his leg.[3][8] Booming Ben was last seen on March 11, 1932.[2] After failing to appear for multiple seasons, Gross offered a $100 reward for the recovery of Ben's body.[9][10]
Footage of Booming Ben recorded by Alfred Otto Gross in the early 1930s was digitized in 2017; it is available from the Bowdoin College special collections.[11]
Booming Ben has been memorialized in the 2024 children's book The Last Heath Hen: An Extinction Story, written by Christie Palmer Lowrance and illustrated by Michael Berndt.[1][12] Additionally, a sculpture of Booming Ben has been erected where he was last seen off a bike path in the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest. It is one of five statues as a part of Todd McGrain's Lost Bird Project.[13]
See also
- List of individual birds
- Endling
- George (snail), the last known Achatinella apexfulva
- Incas (parakeet), last known Carolina parakeet
- Lonesome George, the last known male Pinta Island tortoise
- Martha (passenger pigeon), the last known passenger pigeon
- Sudan (rhinoceros), the last known male Northern White rhinoceros
- Toughie (frog), the last known Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog