Heath hen

Common card · No. 214641

The heath hen (Tympanuchus cupido cupido) is an extinct subspecies of the greater prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido), a large North American bird in the grouse family. It became extinct in 1932. Heath hens lived in the scrubby heathland barrens of coastal North America from southernmost New Hampshire to northern Virginia in historical times. The other subspecies of prairie-chickens inhabited prairies from Texas north to Indiana and the Dakotas (and earlier in mid-southern Canada). Heath hens were extremely common in their habitat during colonial times; because of this, they were hunted by settlers extensively for food. It is speculated that the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving dinner featured heath hens and not wild turkey. By the late 18th century, the heath hen had a reputation as poor man's food for being so cheap and plentiful; somewhat earlier, Thomas L. Winthrop had reported that they lived on the Boston Common (presumably when it was still used to graze cows and other agricultural...

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