The number of roadkills is dramatically increasing in spring. Mating season drives animals crazy and young animals are often victims of the unknown threat. Here, two passerine species are documented as roadkills by A. Marten.
Male of House Sparrow, killed during the breeding season, Niederweimar, Hesse, Germany.
Grey Wagtail, Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany. Fotos by Andreas Marten
A dead crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) found on a country road, Foto: M.Becker.
Some pics from a new wildlife / green bridge; especially designed for protection of wildcats, Fotos: M.Becker.
Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus), Foto: M.Becker.
… are efficient tools for protecting wildlife of being killed by traffic. Furthermore, they are corridors to connect populations. Here, you can see a fence with passage for amphibians and an underbridge with tracks of mammals (wild boar, roe deer, fox, marten).
… early spring. The badgers are leaving their dens and wandering around. Here, a badger was killed and is lying besides the road. I saw crows (Corvus c. corone) and magpies (Pica pica) foraging on that fresh food bonanza.
Badger (Meles meles), Foto: S.Rösner.
Martin Becker, an enthusiastic birder from Germany, just reported a small survey on bird roadkills from his trip to Oman. Along a 100 km stretch of highway he found about 10 rollers, 12 Mynas and one crow. Some of the victims can be seen here:
A roller …
A crested lark. Oman, all photos: Martin Becker
Eurasian treecreeper (Certhia familiaris) as roadkill; reported by Andreas Marten, Braunschweig.
Martin Becker provided that picture from a dead gull (Larus marinus, 3rd year). At coastlines, here: Texel Island in the Netherlands (02.10.2008), birds are often affected by strong winds and therefore often clash with vehicles.
Another wildcat was reported from the middle mountain range of the “Eifel” by Martin Becker. Typically, wildcats are killed on roads crossing the main habitat of that indigenous mammal species: forests.
Wildcat as a roadkill victim close to Wallscheid, District ofBernkastel-Wittlich, Sept. 2008 (Photos: M.Becker)
