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Booming Ben

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Booming Ben
Alfred Otto Gross holding Booming Ben
SpeciesTympanuchus cupido cupido
SexMale
Hatchedc. 1924
Martha’s Vineyard
DiedLast spotted in March 11, 1932
Known forLast known Heath Hen

Booming Ben was the last confirmed heath hen.[1] He was last spotted on Martha's Vineyard on March, 11, 1932.[2] Booming Ben's death allegedly marks the first time conservationists witnessed the extinction of a species.[3]

Background

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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

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Statue of Booming Ben by Todd McGrain’s Lost Bird Project

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 a 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

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References

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  1. ^ a b Blalack, Catherine (May 28, 2025). "Discover the Story of Booming Ben: The Last Heath Hen". U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "The Heath Hen". Bellevue Botanical Garden. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d Heisman, Rebecca (March 2, 2016). "The Sad Story of Booming Ben, Last of the Heath Hens". JSTOR Daily. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Lisson, Ryan (June 17, 2020). "The Unfortunate Story of the Heath Hen (Tympanuchus cupido cupido)". Project Upland. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Gross, Alfred Otto (June 28, 1930). "The Last Heath Hen". The Collecting Net. 5 (33): 54–55 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  6. ^ Baca, Judy (December 22, 2015). "The Heath Hen". John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  7. ^ "Heath Hen Gone, Lives On In Art". Clinton Daily News. March 1, 1940. p. 6. Retrieved December 25, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Traskos-Hart, Talia (November 8, 2024). "Book talk honors Booming Ben's story". The Bowdoin Orient. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  9. ^ "Scientist Convinced Vineyard Heath Hen Is Now Extinct". The Standard-Times. March 30, 1933. p. 5. Retrieved December 25, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "One hundred dollars reward". Brooklyn Times Union. March 7, 1934. p. 2A. Retrieved December 25, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "The Heath Hen and Other Early Ornithological Films of Alfred Otto Gross". Bowdoin College Special Collections and Archives. August 3, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  12. ^ Todd, Mindy (November 19, 2024). "The Last Heath Hen". CAI. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  13. ^ Hull, Olivia (July 23, 2012). "Booming Ben the Heath Hen Visits Camp". The Vineyard Gazette - Martha's Vineyard News. Retrieved December 25, 2025.