Birds Evolve Shorter Wings to Escape Traffic Crush

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03/22/2013

Mar. 22, 2013

Birds Evolve Shorter Wings to Escape Traffic Crush

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Cars and trucks kill some 80 million birds a year on U.S. roads, a source of death that may now be a powerful force of natural selection. Charles Brown, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Tulsa, says cliff swallows caught for research have shorter wings than their kin killed on roads--possibly because shorter wings bestow better maneuverability in traffic.

Watch a Video >> Cliff swallows in Keith County, Nebraska, exhibit apparent play behavior as they try to knock each other off a wire. Video courtesy of Jordan Herman and Charles Brown.

*To watch video in Chrome: After the link above opens a new window, right-click on the play button and select "save video as" to download.

Produced by Christopher Intagliata, Associate Senior Producer

Guests

Charles Brown
Behavioral ecologist
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
University of Tulsa
Tulsa, Oklahoma

Mar. 22, 2013