Were the surrounding fields snow covered????If so, the birds may have been
attracted to the road because it was?bare.? Perhaps the birds were attracted to
the road?for warmth, as pavement retains heat better than soil.
Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA. ???




________________________________
From: ECollins <circle2square at yahoo.com>
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Tue, December 14, 2010 5:28:45 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Birds sitting on the road in rural Eastern Washington


While visiting a friend in Reardan, WA, west of Spokane she mentioned that last
Wednesday there were Ring-necked Pheasants sitting on her rural road (during the
day) and she was unable to stop before hitting the male. Then later the same
night on the same road she hit a flock of Gray Partridges which were flushed
from the other lane into hers by oncoming traffic and, unable to stop or swerve,
she killed several of them. It was horrible for her and we would very much like
to know why she's never seen these birds sitting on her road in the six years
she has lived there. They feel confident no one released game birds, the weather
wasn't particularly bad for that area, and the birds were not near clusters of
trees and wet areas. They drive the road nearly every day so it was really
unusual behavior.?


Elizabeth Collins
NE Portland