Suspected road salt poisoning in Bohemian Waxwings, Bombycilla garrulous (Aves: Passeriformes: Bombycillidae)
The effect of road salts on wintering birds is a serious but recently underreported environmental threat. With the example of Bohemian Waxwings, Bombycilla garrulus, it is discussed that seemingly straightforward explanations, e.g. window collisions, may obscure the primary cause of wrecks. Therefor...
Published in: | Vertebrate Zoology |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
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Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung
2010
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Online Access: | https://zenodo.org/record/7511571 https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.60.e31002 |
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ftzenodo:oai:zenodo.org:7511571 2023-05-15T15:45:31+02:00 Suspected road salt poisoning in Bohemian Waxwings, Bombycilla garrulous (Aves: Passeriformes: Bombycillidae) Töpfer, TILL 2010-09-02 https://zenodo.org/record/7511571 https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.60.e31002 unknown Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung https://zenodo.org/communities/biosyslit https://zenodo.org/record/7511571 https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.60.e31002 oai:zenodo.org:7511571 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode Vertebrate Zoology 60 171-174 Road salt poisoning salt toxicosis waxwing Bombycilla garrulus Bombycilla cedrorum info:eu-repo/semantics/article publication-article 2010 ftzenodo https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.60.e31002 2023-03-10T20:45:21Z The effect of road salts on wintering birds is a serious but recently underreported environmental threat. With the example of Bohemian Waxwings, Bombycilla garrulus, it is discussed that seemingly straightforward explanations, e.g. window collisions, may obscure the primary cause of wrecks. Therefore I argue that birds, particularly those with high daily water intake like the frugivorous waxwings, may consume high concentrations of dissolved road salt with melt water. A review of literature made apparent that salt overdoses lead to aberrant fl ight behaviour and impaired manoevrability, which render them likely to fall victim of road traffi c or to collide with windows. It is discussed that undetected road salt poisoning might explain many ambiguous cases of lethal accidents of wintering birds in urban surroundings. Article in Journal/Newspaper Bombycilla garrulus Zenodo Vertebrate Zoology 60 2 171 174 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Zenodo |
op_collection_id |
ftzenodo |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Road salt poisoning salt toxicosis waxwing Bombycilla garrulus Bombycilla cedrorum |
spellingShingle |
Road salt poisoning salt toxicosis waxwing Bombycilla garrulus Bombycilla cedrorum Töpfer, TILL Suspected road salt poisoning in Bohemian Waxwings, Bombycilla garrulous (Aves: Passeriformes: Bombycillidae) |
topic_facet |
Road salt poisoning salt toxicosis waxwing Bombycilla garrulus Bombycilla cedrorum |
description |
The effect of road salts on wintering birds is a serious but recently underreported environmental threat. With the example of Bohemian Waxwings, Bombycilla garrulus, it is discussed that seemingly straightforward explanations, e.g. window collisions, may obscure the primary cause of wrecks. Therefore I argue that birds, particularly those with high daily water intake like the frugivorous waxwings, may consume high concentrations of dissolved road salt with melt water. A review of literature made apparent that salt overdoses lead to aberrant fl ight behaviour and impaired manoevrability, which render them likely to fall victim of road traffi c or to collide with windows. It is discussed that undetected road salt poisoning might explain many ambiguous cases of lethal accidents of wintering birds in urban surroundings. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Töpfer, TILL |
author_facet |
Töpfer, TILL |
author_sort |
Töpfer, TILL |
title |
Suspected road salt poisoning in Bohemian Waxwings, Bombycilla garrulous (Aves: Passeriformes: Bombycillidae) |
title_short |
Suspected road salt poisoning in Bohemian Waxwings, Bombycilla garrulous (Aves: Passeriformes: Bombycillidae) |
title_full |
Suspected road salt poisoning in Bohemian Waxwings, Bombycilla garrulous (Aves: Passeriformes: Bombycillidae) |
title_fullStr |
Suspected road salt poisoning in Bohemian Waxwings, Bombycilla garrulous (Aves: Passeriformes: Bombycillidae) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Suspected road salt poisoning in Bohemian Waxwings, Bombycilla garrulous (Aves: Passeriformes: Bombycillidae) |
title_sort |
suspected road salt poisoning in bohemian waxwings, bombycilla garrulous (aves: passeriformes: bombycillidae) |
publisher |
Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://zenodo.org/record/7511571 https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.60.e31002 |
genre |
Bombycilla garrulus |
genre_facet |
Bombycilla garrulus |
op_source |
Vertebrate Zoology 60 171-174 |
op_relation |
https://zenodo.org/communities/biosyslit https://zenodo.org/record/7511571 https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.60.e31002 oai:zenodo.org:7511571 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.60.e31002 |
container_title |
Vertebrate Zoology |
container_volume |
60 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
171 |
op_container_end_page |
174 |
_version_ |
1766379916161449984 |