The Carolina parakeet died out for a number of reasons. To make space for more farms, large areas of forest were cut down, taking away its living space. The colorful feathers (green body, yellow head, and red around the bill) were in demand as decorations in ladies' hats, and the birds were kept as pets. Even though the birds were bred easily in captivity, little was done to make sure enough birds were bred to avoid their dying out. Finally, they were killed in large numbers because farmers thought they were pests.