Great tit evolution adapting to birdfeeders


petrel41's avatarDear Kitty. Some blog

This 2015 video from Britain shows great tits and blue tits at a feeder.

From the University of East Anglia in England:

Evolution in your back garden: Great tits may be adapting their beaks to birdfeeders

October 19, 2017

A British enthusiasm for feeding birds may have caused UK great tits to have evolved longer beaks than their European counterparts, according to new research.

The findings, published in Science, identify for the first time the genetic differences between UK and Dutch great tits which researchers were then able to link to longer beaks in UK birds.

Using genetic and historical data, the research team also found that the differences in beak length had occurred within a relatively short time frame. This led them to speculate that there may be a link with the relatively recent practice of putting out food for garden birds.

The research is an international…

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Director of Manchester School of Samba at http://www.sambaman.org.uk
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