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Unusually large amount of roadkill. (1 Viewer)

Lmc3598

Well-known member
Hi
Yesterday, on the way to Edinburgh I noticed a large amount of roadkills. A deer, a hedgehog, pheasants and lots of crows. On the way back a dead buzzard was on top of where the hedgehog used to be. We stopped at a parking area and I investigated one of the dead crows. I found it was headless.

Why was there so many? Time of the year?
 
Lots of crows, some headless? Sounds like something other than cars is at work. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen any of the North American crows/ravens as roadkill. Where I live, ravens in particular regularly feed on roadside carrion but seldom if ever fall victim themselves.
 
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I regulary see Corvids as road kill and see many narrow misses so its no suprise. A headless one might seem a bit odd but presumably the work of some other predator once the Crow was dead Rat or Fox perhaps?
As for the amount of road kill in general, well obviously i wouldnt know what you normally see but what you list doesnt sound unusually high to what i often see in other areas.
 
I was told that a lot of roadkill crows have actually been shot and just dumped at the side of the road :C Not sure if it's true or not but going by the mentality of the numpties up here who regard anything bigger than a robin as vermin I wouldn't be surprised :smoke:
 
I think you do see more roadkill at this time of year - Both young animals and birds who dont yet have any real sense of danger from cars (I had to stop the car yesterday to avoid runinng over a fledging coal tit sitting in the middle of the road) and adults who are desparately trying to keep the youngsters fed (again yesterday I had to avoid a pied wagtail and a couple of jackdaws - picking insects off the verges and then flying low in front of the car).
 
Did see a fair bit of roadkill on Saturday morning, including a badger, and a couple of crows. As it was a bit windy overnight I wonder if the birds/animals didn't hear the sound of the approaching car, or in the case of the crows etc left it a bit late to take-off and got blown back into the car?
 
I wonder if the American corvids are more street savvy than the European ones. I see crows, ravens and magpies scavenging in the road all the time and can't ever recall seeing one as roadkill. I've even seen people swerve to try and hit them, but the birds always get out of the way.
 
I saw a young Starling get run over by a bus this morning - I think it had only just come out of the nest, it had no fear at all of people or traffic.
 
i hardly ever see dead corvids however the most common species i see are rabbits, pheasants, pigoens, hedgehogs, badgers and the occasional fox although the other day i saw an adult gs woodpecker sat in the middle of the road although that one got lucky.
 
I watch the crows all the time from my front window - Carrion Crows, Rooks, Magpies and Jackdaws, and I can see them actually biding their time before jumping/flying out of the way. Quite often I'll see them standing right at the edge of the road, and they'll keep an eye on cars and if the car isn't right at the edge of the road as well, then the crows will stand their ground.

They're obviously not fleeing off the road just for the sake of it, they seem to weigh up the risk. I've not seen any get killed myself, but their behaviour might explain why some might cop it.
 
I've noticed a lot of roadkill recently and I presume its just the time of year. A lot of crows and young birds dead on the roads. I've also noticed a lot of dead badgers aswell. Ger.
 
Went up through Northumberland and back today and lost count of the amount of dead Corvids easily 30+ even 2 or 3 together more than once, newly fledged birds not quite wise enough yet I'd guess.
 
Went up through Northumberland and back today and lost count of the amount of dead Corvids easily 30+ even 2 or 3 together more than once, newly fledged birds not quite wise enough yet I'd guess.

It's always the same at this time of year. It's about the only time you'll see a flattened crow or rook. I've seen a couple of small fox cubs by the roadside near me in the last couple of weeks.
 
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