The heath hen was a bird closely related to the Greater Prairie Chicken, with many of the same attributes and mannerisms. And unfortunately for the heath hen that meant that they were a prime food source amongst early inhabitants of Eastern coastal North America. By the late 1870s the heath hen was eradicated from the mainland and only a small population remained on Martha's Vineyard. The population slowly declined from the 200 or so birds on the island to around 70 by the end of the 1800s.
In 1908 the Heath Hen Reserve was established to protect these struggling birds and by some stroke of luck the heath hens rebounded. In 1910 their number was holding at around 2000, however the success was not to last. In 1916 a large wildfire during the nesting season destroyed much of the population. Afterwords a series of unfortunate events were to ring the death nell for the heath hen. Influx of predators, disease, inbreeding and an excess number of males lead to the final decline.
The last heath hen, named Booming Ben, died in 1932.
The bright point in this unfortunate story of decline is that the heath hen was one of the first bird species that Americans tried to save. Even though effort to protect the heath hen were eventually a failure the effort started to open the gates to future conservation initiatives.
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More sketches and research to come next week!
