Inefficacy of mallard flight responses to approaching vehicles
Vehicle collisions with birds are financially costly and dangerous to humans and animals. To reduce collisions, it is necessary to understand how birds respond to approaching vehicles. We used simulated (i.e., animals exposed to video playback) and real vehicle approaches with mallards (Anas platyry...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2024-09-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/18124.pdf |
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| author | Shane Guenin Carson J. Pakula Jonathon Skaggs Esteban Fernández-Juricic Travis L. DeVault |
| author_facet | Shane Guenin Carson J. Pakula Jonathon Skaggs Esteban Fernández-Juricic Travis L. DeVault |
| author_sort | Shane Guenin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Vehicle collisions with birds are financially costly and dangerous to humans and animals. To reduce collisions, it is necessary to understand how birds respond to approaching vehicles. We used simulated (i.e., animals exposed to video playback) and real vehicle approaches with mallards (Anas platyrynchos) to quantify flight behavior and probability of collision under different vehicle speeds and times of day (day vs. night). Birds exposed to simulated nighttime approaches exhibited reduced probability of attempting escape, but when escape was attempted, fled with more time before collision compared to birds exposed to simulated daytime approaches. The lower probability of flight may indicate that the visual stimulus of vehicle approaches at night (i.e., looming headlights) is perceived as less threatening than when the full vehicle is more visible during the day; alternatively, the mallard visual system might be incompatible with vehicle lighting in dark settings. Mallards approached by a real vehicle exhibited a delayed margin of safety (both flight initiation distance and time before collision decreased with speed); they are the first bird species found to exhibit this response to vehicle approach. Our findings suggest mallards are poorly equipped to adequately respond to fast-moving vehicles and demonstrate the need for continued research into methods promoting effective avian avoidance behaviors. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-45cea993cd1843448dfd64e8a5bc38c9 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-09-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj-art-45cea993cd1843448dfd64e8a5bc38c92025-08-20T01:56:14ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592024-09-0112e1812410.7717/peerj.18124Inefficacy of mallard flight responses to approaching vehiclesShane Guenin0Carson J. Pakula1Jonathon Skaggs2Esteban Fernández-Juricic3Travis L. DeVault4Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina, United StatesSavannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina, United StatesSavannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina, United StatesDepartment of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United StatesSavannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina, United StatesVehicle collisions with birds are financially costly and dangerous to humans and animals. To reduce collisions, it is necessary to understand how birds respond to approaching vehicles. We used simulated (i.e., animals exposed to video playback) and real vehicle approaches with mallards (Anas platyrynchos) to quantify flight behavior and probability of collision under different vehicle speeds and times of day (day vs. night). Birds exposed to simulated nighttime approaches exhibited reduced probability of attempting escape, but when escape was attempted, fled with more time before collision compared to birds exposed to simulated daytime approaches. The lower probability of flight may indicate that the visual stimulus of vehicle approaches at night (i.e., looming headlights) is perceived as less threatening than when the full vehicle is more visible during the day; alternatively, the mallard visual system might be incompatible with vehicle lighting in dark settings. Mallards approached by a real vehicle exhibited a delayed margin of safety (both flight initiation distance and time before collision decreased with speed); they are the first bird species found to exhibit this response to vehicle approach. Our findings suggest mallards are poorly equipped to adequately respond to fast-moving vehicles and demonstrate the need for continued research into methods promoting effective avian avoidance behaviors.https://peerj.com/articles/18124.pdfMallardWildlife-vehicle interactionFlight initiation distanceAntipredator behaviorAvoidance behaviorVideo playback |
| spellingShingle | Shane Guenin Carson J. Pakula Jonathon Skaggs Esteban Fernández-Juricic Travis L. DeVault Inefficacy of mallard flight responses to approaching vehicles PeerJ Mallard Wildlife-vehicle interaction Flight initiation distance Antipredator behavior Avoidance behavior Video playback |
| title | Inefficacy of mallard flight responses to approaching vehicles |
| title_full | Inefficacy of mallard flight responses to approaching vehicles |
| title_fullStr | Inefficacy of mallard flight responses to approaching vehicles |
| title_full_unstemmed | Inefficacy of mallard flight responses to approaching vehicles |
| title_short | Inefficacy of mallard flight responses to approaching vehicles |
| title_sort | inefficacy of mallard flight responses to approaching vehicles |
| topic | Mallard Wildlife-vehicle interaction Flight initiation distance Antipredator behavior Avoidance behavior Video playback |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/18124.pdf |
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