Through an extensive literature review and using a large dataset collected from several European studies, we explored the frequency of occurrence of road bird casualties. First, we modelled the inter-specific variation in roadkill’ frequency across the avian phylogeny, testing for phylogenetic signal. Then, we explored the association between frequency of roadkill and some avian traits and evolutionary distinctiveness score of species.

The rate of roadkill did not show a phylogenetic signal, indicating that the incidence of avian casualties is independent of the phylogenetic position of species. The incidence of roadkill was unrelated to the evolutionary distinctiveness, distribution range size, type of diet, or period of activity of species, but was slightly negatively associated with the species’ body mass. This result implies that roadkill is a form of anthropogenic mortality widely generalized concerning avian phylogeny. We highlight that roadkill mitigation measures could benefit from incorporating peculiarities of local or regional avifauna.

通过广泛的文献综述并使用从一些欧洲研究中收集的大数据集，我们探索了道路鸟类伤亡的发生频率。首先，我们模拟了禽类系统发育过程中道路杀伤频率的种间差异，测试了系统发育信号。然后，我们探讨了道路杀灭频率与某些禽类性状与物种进化独特性得分之间的关​​联。

道路杀伤率未显示系统发生信号，表明禽类伤亡的发生与物种的系统发生位置无关。道路杀灭的发生与进化的独特性，分布范围的大小，饮食的类型或物种的活动时间无关，但与物种的体重略有负相关。该结果表明，道路杀伤是一种广泛涉及禽类系统发育的人为死亡形式。我们强调指出，减少道路杀伤性措施可能会受益于本地或区域航空动物的特殊性。