10.5061/DRYAD.7154Q
DeVault, Travis L.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Blackwell, Bradley F.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Seamans, Thomas W.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Lima, Steven L.
Indiana State University
Fernández-Juricic, Esteban
Purdue University
Fernandez-Juricic, E.
Purdue University
Data from: Speed kills: ineffective avian escape responses to oncoming vehicles
Dryad
dataset
2014
antipredator behaviour
animal-vehicle collisions
Flight Initiation Distance
brown-headed cowbird
escape response
video playback
2014-12-11T22:07:46Z
2014-12-11T22:07:46Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.2188
26316 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Animal–vehicle collisions cause high levels of vertebrate mortality
worldwide, and what goes wrong when animals fail to escape and ultimately
collide with vehicles is not well understood. We investigated alert and
escape behaviours of captive brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) in
response to virtual vehicle approaches of different sizes and at speeds
ranging from 60 to 360 km h−1. Alert and flight initiation distances
remained similar across vehicle speeds, and accordingly, alert and flight
initiation times decreased at higher vehicle speeds. Thus, avoidance
behaviours in cowbirds appeared to be based on distance rather than time
available for escape, particularly at 60–150 km h−1; however, at higher
speeds (more than or equal to 180 km h−1) no trend in response behaviour
was discernible. As vehicle speed increased, cowbirds did not have enough
time to assess the approaching vehicle, and cowbirds generally did not
initiate flight with enough time to avoid collision when vehicle speed
exceeded 120 km h−1. Although potentially effective for evading predators,
the decision-making process used by cowbirds in our study appears
maladaptive in the context of avoiding fast-moving vehicles. Our
methodological approach and findings provide a framework to assess how
novel management strategies could affect escape rules, and the sensory and
cognitive abilities animals use to avoid vehicle collisions.
cowbird responses to virtual vehicle approachThese data were collected in
a video laboratory in 2012. Brown-headed cowbirds were exposed to video
playback of an approaching vehicle with two sizes and eight vehicle
speeds. Alert responses (alert distance and alert time to collision) and
flight responses (flight initiation distance and flight time to collision)
were recorded based on the median of a group of three cowbirds.DeVault et
al BHCO - video lab data.xlsx