GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist and her five parrots are currently relocating to Germany, where she will continue writing her blog while also writing a book and learning German. (Meanwhile, her parrots will continue to nibble on her extensive personal library.) If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, you can help pay her living expenses by hiring her to "blog" your conference, speak at your club or write articles for your publication (or by clicking on the Paypal button below). If you read an essay on this blog that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for inclusion in 
The purple milkweed butterfly winters on the south end of Taiwan and flies over 600 meters of open roadways to reach its breeding ground in the north. Unfortunately, many of the 11,500 butterflies that attempt the journey each hour do not reach their breeding grounds because turbulence generated by fast-moving cars drags them into traffic or under the wheels of oncoming vehicles. As a result, Taiwan will close one lane of a major highway to protect more than a million of these butterflies, which cross the road on their seasonal migration.
Ecologists are using the lane closure, protective nets and ultra-violet lighting in the hopes that these efforts will increase the milkweed butterfly's chances of reaching their destination. The protective nets are designed to force the butterflies to fly higher, reducing the chances of them getting caught in the traffic. Ultra-violet lighting will be used below an elevated section of road to encourage the butterflies to fly underneath.
"Human beings need to coexist with the other species, even if they are tiny butterflies," said Lee Thay-ming, of the National Freeway Bureau.
Would Americans ever dream of doing such a thing?
Cited story.
