A simple structural method to reduce road-kills of royal terns at bridge sites

摘要

Marine birds killed in collisions with motor vehicles are a problem at coastal road and bridge sites in Florida and elsewhere (Skoog 1982, Smith et al. 1994, Bard et al. 2002). Many species of upland birds are also killed by vehicles (Trombulak and Frissell 2000). Methods to reduce road-kills of wildlife have included reduced speed limits (Bertwistle 1999), physical barriers (Brown et al. 1999, Phillips 1999), and public education (Evink 1999, Gunther and Biel 1999). Royal terns (Sterna maxima) are both breeding and wintering residents in Florida (Egensteiner ct al. 1996), with local numbers augmented in winter from breeding colonies farther north (Robertson and Woolfenden 1992). An analysis of 82 band recoveries at Sebastian Inlet during the 23-year period 1979 to 2001 indicated that many juvenile royal terns from 11 breeding colonies ranging from North Carolina to Maryland spent December to February in southeast Florida (Smith et al. 1994, Bard et al. 2002).