illeatyourtumors :
A fun little bit of trivia: when the North American passenger pigeon was abundant, they used to eat seeds like crazy, but their guts and guano was so acidic, it killed most types of trees and undergrowth. Furthermore, flocks were so large that trees would break under their weight, which made the forests not shady.
So, the trees that survived developed seeds in the fall when the passenger pigeons weren't present and grow quickly in sunlight.
The most prominent of these is the American White Oak, who h has red leaves in autumn. However, with the extinction of passenger pigeons due to human hunting, the white oak lost its competitiveness as more types of trees grew, blocking out light, and eventually overtaking the white oak. So, in forests that used to be almost entirely red, now the American Northwest's forests are yellow. The colors of the autumn forest has literally changed because of a bird going extinct.
Also, white oak is one of the most popular woods for aging alcohol, and it's harder to get and make them because of the white oak's comparative rarity, and some are heirlooms.
2025-11-03 21:18:33