On the 9th of October I had to cross Lewis pass from the west-coast to canterburry. Weather was bad. All trees and land snowcovered. So, there were lots of birds on the (clean) road. mainly, Pipits, larks, Finches and Yellowhammers.
Between half an hour before hanmer and 15 minutes after hanmer (between 11:30 am and 12;15 pm) there were also several bird-casualties on the road. All 6 I saw were yellowhammer-males. I myself unfortunately killed another 3 (maybe 4) yellowhammer-males with the car. (Stopping was impossible without risking slipping with the car or endangering other roadusers).
All other birds were neither seen dead nor killed by myself with the car. I found it remarkable that it were only yellowhammer males I myself killed and the six other dead birds I saw on the road.
Some questions on roadkills?;
I would be very interested to leran if other people have also noticed this or other species- and/or sex specific roadfatalities at any season or weather. (I know about pukeko and duck roadkills specifically in spring but would be interested to learn more about them)
I would also be very interested to learn about statistics of NZ roadkills (birds) if they exist.
On the westcoast I counted at least 14 dead wekea's on the road, do numbers exist on weka-roadkills? (seasonal?)
Cheers,
Leo van Brunschot
