Creature
Fast Facts
Introducing you to extinct species.

THE

HEATH HEN

1. The heath hen was a bird that lived in the eastern woodlands region of the United States from New Hampshire south through Virginia. 2. They were a member of the grouse family, and closely related to the greater prairie chicken, the lesser prairie chicken, and the endangered Attwater’s prairie chicken. 3. Heath hens, not turkeys, were on the first Thanksgiving menu. 4. It weighed 2 pounds and stood 17 inches tall. 5. In colonial times, heath hens were so common that servants would often request not to have to eat them more than 2 - 3 times a week. 6. During mating displays, Males would lower their heads and raise their pinnae (long pointed feathers on their neck) and inflate their neck sacks and create a "booming" sound. They would then battle one another to impress the females and claim their territory on a ‘lekking ground’. 7. People would come to Martha's Vineyard each year to watch the remaining population duke it out. 8. The heath hen could step 21 times per second, during its mating displays. 9. Many Native American dances get their inspiration from the heath hen mating dances. 10. In 1791 - New York passed the first American law to protect a species. The law called for "the preservation of heath hen and other game..." but New York citizens thought the law was designed to protect "heathens" (Native Americans) so the law was overlooked. 11. Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts was used to isolate the population which did well until a brush fire in 1916. 12. “Booming Ben” was the last heath hen to strut his stuff before disappearing March 11, 1932, which is the heath hen's extinction Date. 13. Numerous attempts to introduce the greater prairie chicken from the Great Plains to the American Northeast failed because heath hens were specially adapted to thrive in the heath, areas of poor, shrubland with sandy soil.

Extinction
Cometh
Facing the light at the end of the tunnel

EXTINCTION DATE

March 11, 1932

The heath hen’s original range included most of the American Northeast spanning from New Hampshire down through parts of Virginia. Native Americans had used the heath hen as a food source for thousands of years, having very little effect on the heath hen population. In fact, many tribes of the Northeast would have dances mimicking the heath hens courtship displays. The heath hen population remained high through the colonization of the New World by the English. It is thought that the first Thanksgiving between the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians did not include turkey. Rather the meal would have contained corn, lobster, deer, and heath hen. In some northern colonies indentured servants begged with their employers not to have to eat heath hen more than once a day. They would regularly be seen in Boston Common. In 1791 the state of New York passed the first American law to protect any species. The law called for "the preservation of heath-hen and other game..." but New York citizens thought the law was designed to protect "heathens" (Native Americans) so the law was overlooked by most New Yorkers. By the 1840’s the heath hen population began a steep decline due to more intense hunting. By 1870, heath hens had disappeared off of the mainland with only a small colony of about 300 birds living on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. In 1890, feral cats moved onto the island, dropping the population to around 200. In 1908 the Heath Hen Reserve was created and within 2 years the population grew to 2,000. The heath hen’s luck began to run out despite help from people. In 1916 a fire decimated part of the island. Only 600 remained after a poultry disease affected the heath hens. By 1927 only 12 heath hens remained. Of the dozen left, only two were female. By December 8, 1932, ‘Booming Ben’ was the only heath hen remaining. Booming Ben was last seen on March 11, 1932, marking the extinction of the heath hen. Could the heath hen live in the American Northeast today? Although Jurassic Park is fiction, scientists are working on several de-extinction projects. In fact, in 2003 scientists did bring back the extinct Pyrenean ibex, a type of wild goat, for 7 minutes before it died, showing de-extinction is possible. The heath hen might be a good candidate. Scientists would potentially use DNA from the 100+ museum specimens to use to try to bring them back to life. Great strides have been made to preserve wildlife and restore habitats since the heath hen’s extinction in 1932. If the heath hen was brought to life, could it ever be reintroduced to its native homeland in the American Northeast?

Lazarus
Tales
Short stories of return

Click Scroll for Lazarus Return 'Rules'

COMING SOON

Although Boomer the heath hen did have a return story in my book Deader Than a Dodo, his presonal Lazarus Tale is yet to be written. Boomer the heath hen’s account from my book, Deader Than a Dodo. There were now only two more creatures in line until my turn to share, and I had trouble focusing on what was being said. Another bird began to share. He looked like a small chicken of some kind, like the kind I have sometimes seen around the research station, but he had reddish-brown bands running around his plump little body. This chicken-like bird had a very stumpy, rounded tail and a set of two longer triangular feathers jutting down from his throat. “I am the heath hen, and my chosen name was originally Ben, but given the fact that her name is Benjamin,” the heath hen said motioning to the last creature in line, “I’ve decided to take on one of my nicknames from when I was among the people, Boomer. True they called me “Booming Ben” because of my elaborate dance moves, but I think Boomer has a little more pizzazz,” Boomer said enthusiastically. Then he put his head down dragging his wings along the ground and inflating some sort of small orangish balloons on the side of his throat similar to the frigate birds which flew around the CDRS back on the Galapagos Islands. He definitely could dance in ways that I could never dream of, but I realized my head, like many of those in line, began involuntarily bopping to Boomer’s rhythmic beat. As he stood up again, recovering from his spontaneous dancing, Boomer continued, “Heath hens were never known for being shy. We really liked to be the center of attention and were even at the first Thanksgiving in the new world. Like the passenger pigeon over there, we once roamed the eastern portion of the area known as the United States. Heath hens were once very plentiful and served as a food source for the servant people. Like many of us here, I have faith in the people to change which is why I have joined this mission. They tried many times to help my kind. As early as 1791, some people in the United States passed a law protecting heath hens, but many people misinterpreted this law as protecting “heathens”, which is what they called the native people they were fighting against at the time. Needless to say, the law didn’t help my kind. In 1870 the people did notice that heath hens were rapidly disappearing, so they rounded up the remaining 300 or so of us, and put us on Martha’s Vineyard, no relation to the chatty passenger pigeon over there. The people said we’d be safe there, except the wild cats on the island took their toll on us. By 1908 people came from all over to see us do our dances and our population was ‘booming’,” he said air quoting and smirking at me. “The people were confident we’d recover until the untimely fire of 1916. This decimated our population, and we never really recovered. The last two females died in 1927. By December of the next year, I was the only one. I danced my heart out for the people,” Boomer said proudly. “I knew they did their best to try to save my kind, but after my grandest dancing ever, I bowed out March 11, 1932.” Boomer strutted back into his spot.