I like how you captured the fucked up aesthetic of the road cutting through nature and how the birds adapted.
what gets me is the shear amount of paint there is, we drive about 30 miles and most of the way is like this with just little mounds of yellow dust and Im sure it all just washes away in the rain to places we dont want it to end up. Also apparently birds need to eat rocks and stuff to help break down food so they hopefully are just getting the little rocks and not the paint chunks
I was astounded when I saw stats on how many birds get killed by cars every year (I think it was posted here a while back). Its like an ongoing bird genocide. No wonder birds shit all over parked cars. We can’t even fault them for this, but it would also be illegal for us to join in. :D
I’d love to know the difference in average bird fatalities for a busy 4 lane highway vs a double-tracked rail line with overhead catenary.
This isn’t even to mention the other many ways we’re constantly actively contributing to the deaths of birds through suburbia, even indirectly. Aside from the obvious stuff like getting rid of the trees they inhabit in the rare urban areas, we even kill them in the places they can live, by having “outdoor cats” as if they arent an invasive species. Letting them predate on the local bird population can be hugely detrimental!
Roadway runoff is a big impact from roads that is largely ignored in many places. The runoff can contain
Paint chips, Oils and fuels, Brake dust, Tire particles, Salt, and Litter.
Most of this will run right into ditches, streams or rivers. There is often no treatment of the runoff.