Duck! Study Shows Mallards Struggle To Avoid Cars And Planes

window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({article:'auto'}); !function (e, f, u, i) { if (!document.getElementById(i)){ e.async = 1; e.src = u; e.id = i; f.parentNode.insertBefore(e, f); } }(document.createElement('script'), document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0], '//cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/zengernews-network/loader.js', 'tb_loader_script'); if(window.performance && typeof window.performance.mark == 'function') {window.performance.mark('tbl_ic');} window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'UA-160618588-3',{'custom_map': {'dimension1': 'story_id'},'story_id': ''}); By Stephen Beech New research warns that mallards are a danger to themselves and people because they are ill-equipped to avoid collisions with cars and aircraft. There is an urgent need for improved methods to reduce dangerous and costly bird-vehicle collisions, say scientists. Researchers used state-of-the-art technology to assess the common breed of duck’s response to approaching vehicles. The findings, published in the journal PeerJ Life & Environment, showed that mallards are “poorly equipped” to avoid collisions, particularly at high speeds. The research team says the study, which used both simulated and real-world vehicle approaches, highlights the “urgent” need for improved methods to reduce bird-vehicle collisions – incidents that are not only financially costly but also dangerous to both humans and wildlife. The study focused on mallards’ behavior when exposed to vehicles approaching at different speeds and under varying light conditions. Results showed that mallards demonstrated a “reduced...