A speeding car feels like a threat: birds don’t understand that cars won’t leave the road to chase them down. Some species will escape upwards, but gaining altitude is difficult to do quickly.
Species that live in hedgerows, like the blackbird, prefer to dive close to the ground where they can easily reach cover and hide. In springtime, this behaviour could also be the bird’s way of protecting its nest, by distracting any would-be predator.
Read more:
- Can birds fly upside down?
- How do baby birds breathe inside their eggs?
- Why do some birds hop and others run?
- Can different bird species understand each other’s songs?
