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Roadside hawk (Rupornis magnirostris) hit by an oncoming vehicle while capturing a striped snake (Lygophis anomalus) Cover

Roadside hawk (Rupornis magnirostris) hit by an oncoming vehicle while capturing a striped snake (Lygophis anomalus)

Open Access
|Mar 2023

Abstract

One of the most apparent origins of biodiversity loss caused by humans is infrastructural development of roads. Yet they offer certain benefits for some animals, such as hunting opportunities with lower energy costs and consumption of carrion earlier hit by vehicles. Raptors find roads a particularly favorable environment, perching on poles or overhead cables and waiting to attack their prey as it crosses a road. This paper describes the first ever recorded predation by a roadside hawk (Rupornis magnirostris) of a striped snake (Lygophis anomalus) supportable by material evidence, when both the raptor and the snake were hit by a vehicle immediately after the snake was caught. The study contributes to knowledge about the roadside hawk’s diet and illuminates the problem these human infrastructures pose for animals. Future research on roads birds of prey use as hunting sites could contribute toward improvements in conservation programs for birds of prey species.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/srj-2022-0003 | Journal eISSN: 2644-5247 | Journal ISSN: 1337-3463
Language: English
Page range: 33 - 37
Submitted on: Jul 29, 2022
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Accepted on: Sep 26, 2022
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Published on: Mar 21, 2023
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year
Related subjects:

© 2023 Sebastián Lyons, Diego O. Di Pietro, published by Raptor Protection of Slovakia
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.