午夜福利1000集合

PREDATORY birds prefer roadsides to open fields, and the busier the road the
better, say French biologists. In fact, the birds would rather hunt near
thundering autoroutes than quiet country lanes because the constant traffic
disturbs them less.

Birdwatchers have known for years that predators like to hunt on roadside
verges. But until now, nobody realised they have a preference for certain types
of road. In fact, it had always been assumed that quieter roads were more likely
to be chosen as hunting grounds because there is less risk of being hit by a
car.

To find out more, Francis Meunier and his colleagues at the Chiz茅
Centre for Biological Studies looked at the distribution of kestrels, buzzards
and black kites on an intensively farmed plain 100 kilometres north of Bordeaux.
They found that all three birds preferred roads to farmland, and all preferred
the four-lane A10 autoroute to a quiet country lane.

Meunier believes this has something to do with adaptation to traffic
disturbance. 鈥淭he volume of traffic on motorways does not seem to be a concern,
probably because it is a routine disturbance,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he birds have the
habit of seeing fast traffic all the time and they integrate it. But on quiet
roads slower vehicles are not habitual. Kestrels seemed more disturbed by our
car driving slowly鈥攖hey sometimes flew away when we passed.鈥�

The A10 has other attractions, the team says. Shrubs that were planted when
it was built are reaching optimal perching height, and the verges have plenty of
open areas for hunting. And for the scavenging black kite, more cars means more
roadkill.

Meunier says the findings suggest that motorway verges could be managed to
help conserve birds of prey, especially in areas of intensive agriculture.
Buzzards are quite common, but kestrels are in decline and black kites are on
the European Union鈥檚 priority list of endangered species.

鈥淢otorways are already helping,鈥� says Meunier. But he warns that the verges
will need to be managed properly. In particular, he says, there is a danger of
the shrubs growing so tall and dense that they turn into a forest. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not
good for raptors鈥攖hey need a mixed habitat.鈥�

Britain鈥檚 Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has greeted the study
with caution. 鈥淢y worry is that people will use this to demonstrate how good
roads and cars are for the environment,鈥� says Julian Hughes of the species
policy unit. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good that there鈥檚 still somewhere for these birds to feed.
But the fact that it鈥檚 a motorway verge is a damning indictment of the rest of
the countryside.鈥�