Chapter 7
Bird Collisions in a Railway Crossing
a Wetland of International Importance
(Sado Estuary, Portugal)
Carlos Godinho, João T. Marques, Pedro Salgueiro, Luísa Catarino,
Cândida Osório de Castro, António Mira and Pedro Beja
Abstract Many studies have evaluated bird mortality in relation to roads and other
human structures, but little is known about the potential impacts of railways. In
particular, it is uncertain whether railways are an important mortality source when
crossing wetlands heavily used by aquatic birds. Here we analyze bird collisions in
a railway that crosses the Nature Reserve of the Sado Estuary (Portugal) over an
annual cycle, documenting bird mortality and the flight behaviour of aquatic birds
in relation to a bowstring bridge. During monthly surveys conducted on 16.3 km of
railway, we found 5.8 dead birds/km/10 survey days in the section crossing wetland
habitats (6.3 km), while <0.5 dead birds/km/10 survey days were found in two
sections crossing only forested habitats. Most birds recorded were small songbirds
(Passeriformes), while there was only a small number of aquatic birds (common
moorhen, mallard, flamingo, great cormorant, gulls) and other non-passerines
associated with wetlands (white stork). During nearly 400 h of observations, we
C. Godinho (&) Á L. Catarino
LabOr—Laboratório de Ornitologia, ICAAM—Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais
Mediterrânicas, Universidade de Évora, Mitra, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal
e-mail: capg@uevora.pt
J.T. Marques Á P. Salgueiro Á A. Mira
Unidade de Biologia da Conservação, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Évora,
Mitra, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal
J.T. Marques Á P. Salgueiro Á A. Mira
CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos,
Universidade de Évora, Pólo de Évora, Casa do Cordovil 2º Andar, 7000-890 Évora, Portugal
C.O. de Castro
Direção de Engenharia e Ambiente. Infraestruturas de Portugal, Campus do Pragal—Ed. 1,
Praça da Portagem, 2801-013 Almada, Portugal
P. Beja
CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos,
Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661
Vairão, Portugal
P. Beja
CEABN/InBIO, Centro de Ecologia Aplicada “Professor Baeta Neves”, Instituto Superior de
Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
© The Author(s) 2017
L. Borda-de-Água et al. (eds.), Railway Ecology,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57496-7_7
103
Bird Collisions in a Railway Crossing
a Wetland of International Importance
(Sado Estuary, Portugal)
Carlos Godinho, João T. Marques, Pedro Salgueiro, Luísa Catarino,
Cândida Osório de Castro, António Mira and Pedro Beja
Abstract Many studies have evaluated bird mortality in relation to roads and other
human structures, but little is known about the potential impacts of railways. In
particular, it is uncertain whether railways are an important mortality source when
crossing wetlands heavily used by aquatic birds. Here we analyze bird collisions in
a railway that crosses the Nature Reserve of the Sado Estuary (Portugal) over an
annual cycle, documenting bird mortality and the flight behaviour of aquatic birds
in relation to a bowstring bridge. During monthly surveys conducted on 16.3 km of
railway, we found 5.8 dead birds/km/10 survey days in the section crossing wetland
habitats (6.3 km), while <0.5 dead birds/km/10 survey days were found in two
sections crossing only forested habitats. Most birds recorded were small songbirds
(Passeriformes), while there was only a small number of aquatic birds (common
moorhen, mallard, flamingo, great cormorant, gulls) and other non-passerines
associated with wetlands (white stork). During nearly 400 h of observations, we
C. Godinho (&) Á L. Catarino
LabOr—Laboratório de Ornitologia, ICAAM—Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais
Mediterrânicas, Universidade de Évora, Mitra, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal
e-mail: capg@uevora.pt
J.T. Marques Á P. Salgueiro Á A. Mira
Unidade de Biologia da Conservação, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Évora,
Mitra, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal
J.T. Marques Á P. Salgueiro Á A. Mira
CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos,
Universidade de Évora, Pólo de Évora, Casa do Cordovil 2º Andar, 7000-890 Évora, Portugal
C.O. de Castro
Direção de Engenharia e Ambiente. Infraestruturas de Portugal, Campus do Pragal—Ed. 1,
Praça da Portagem, 2801-013 Almada, Portugal
P. Beja
CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos,
Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661
Vairão, Portugal
P. Beja
CEABN/InBIO, Centro de Ecologia Aplicada “Professor Baeta Neves”, Instituto Superior de
Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
© The Author(s) 2017
L. Borda-de-Água et al. (eds.), Railway Ecology,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57496-7_7
103