More than 57 million European birds are killed by traffic every year. Some birds are less likely than others to be casualties – and braininess does indeed seem to be a factor.
Are cleverer animals better at crossing roads?
A survey of 3,521 birds belonging to 251 species suggests that individuals killed by cars tend to have disproportionately small brains for their body size – a crude measure of cognitive ability (or lack of it). The motor car hasn’t been around long enough to induce much in the way of evolutionary change, but there is plenty of scope for learning the rules of the road through experience – which clever animals are good at.
- What is the most intelligent bird?
- Ravens may be even cleverer than we thought
- Crows have a reputation for being smart, but are they actually clever?
Individuals of several species learn to adjust the timing of their take-off from a road according to the speed of approaching vehicles. Crows even learn that traffic flows in opposite directions each side of the central white line, and dodge traffic by shuffling between lanes rather than taking flight every time a car approaches.