Britain’s nice tits are getting larger after snacking on nuts, boffins declare
Britain’s great tits are getting bigger – from gorging on gardeners’ nuts.
Our birds are outgrowing their continental cousins due to their diet, say boffs.
The UK species have longer bills because of bird feeders. The average Brit great tit has a 0.3mm longer pecker, Oxford University experts found.
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Prof Robin May, of Gresham College, said: “The British put out more wild bird feed in their gardens than the rest of Europe put together – and Europe is a big place.
“This is driving evolution. In hundreds of years we may end up with two distinct populations in Britain and Europe.”
Brits spend twice as much on bird feeders as folk in mainland Europe.
Uni researchers have been measuring the beak sizes of great tits in Wytham Woods, Oxon, for 70 years.
And they found those with longer ones were more successful at reproducing in the UK.
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