As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Friday, 13 October 2017

Pheasant roadkill peaks in autumn and late winter


Date:  October 3, 2017
Source: University of Exeter

Chickens' motives for crossing the road are often questioned -- but pheasants should probably avoid it altogether, new research suggests. Researchers from the universities of Exeter and Cardiff compared roadkill figures from the 1960s and 2010s -- before and after the start of mass release programmes of pheasants for shooting -- and found pheasants remain disproportionately likely to be run over compared to other birds. "There may be a number of reasons why pheasants are so commonly killed on the roads, including their short flight distances and relatively small brains," said Dr Joah Madden, of the University of Exeter.


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