<b>Risk of breeding along the road: High bird roadkills at the fledging stage</b>

The research location was Beiting Town (44°17'–22' N, 87°52'–58' E), Fukang City, Xinjiang Province, northwest China. The climate of the study area is of the temperate continental desert-type with hot summers and cold winters, an average annual temperature of 6.6 °C, and annual precipitation of 164 mm (Yang et al., 2015). The site is an open and intensively cultivated agricultural area with approximately 5,000 residents. The local birds mainly nest in shelterbelts comprising a mix of Chinese white poplar (<i>Populus tomentosa</i>), desert poplar (<i>P. euphratica</i>), narrow-leaved oleaster (<i>Elaeagnus angustifolia</i>), Siberian elm (<i>Ulmus pumila</i>), and desert shrub vegetation. The shelterbelts are surrounded by villages, desert, and agricultural farming areas in the oases. The main cultivated crops are wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i>), cotton (<i>Gossypium</i> spp.), and watermelon (<i>Citrullus lanatus</i>) (Zhou and Liang 2024).The results indicated that local avian species preferred to nest and breed in shelterbelts growing on both sides of the highway. The species and number of birds killed on the highway gradually increased throughout the breeding season, reached a peak during the period when wheat grains were transported locally, and then gradually decreased after the breeding season was over. A total of 387 bird individual roadkill were recorded, affecting 15 bird species. The house sparrow (<i>Passer domesticus</i>) and isabelline shrike (<i>Lanius isabellinus</i>) accounted for 56.6% (219) and 21.2% (82) of the total roadkills, respectively. Female and male birds accounted for 17.3% (67) and 15.3% (59), respectively. The sex of the remaining individuals could not be determined. Fledglings of breeding bird species accounted for 50.9% (197) of the recorded roadkills. Our study suggests that highways traversing avian breeding grounds pose a considerable threat to the survival of birds, especially their fledglings. The impact is exacerbated upon grain spillage during transportation, particularly for granivorous birds.