GREAT TITS ARE EVOLVING LONGER BEAKS BECAUSE OF BIRD FEEDERS

Certain birds in the U.K. have longer beaks than their non-U.K. brethren of the same species. Evolutionary biologists suggest that it’s the British people’s fondness for setting out bird feeders that is behind this trend. The hobby appears to be directly impacting evolution.

Researchers studied beak lengths of great tits in the U.K., where bird feeders are popular, and in the Netherlands, where they are not. They also tracked the location of tagged tits to determine how much time they spent at bird feeders. The scientists also have 70 years’ worth of historical data on great tits and could discern that their beak lengths are changing with time. The study was published today in the journal Science.

The researchers started by analyzing DNA from more than 3,000 great tits in the U.K. and in the Netherlands. They found differences in several genes indicating face shape. The gene variant for faces with longer beaks was correlated with having a higher number of fledgling chicks—so the gene can continue to spread throughout their population.

“DNA is a really useful way of finding out how natural selection occurs in the wild,” evolutionary biologist Lewis Spurgin at the University of East Anglia, one of the authors of this study, tells Newsweek. “Our study shows that we can start with DNA and build up a really complete picture of how evolution works.”

Spurgin says he doesn’t know for sure why birds would need longer beaks in the presence of more bird feeders. “There are several possibilities. It could be that they’re simply more able to access the feed, you may be able to get to it better,” Spurgin says. “It could have something to do with [their beak being] less damaged by the pecking, but we don’t know, that’s something that we’d like to do in the future.”

Bird feeders gained popularity as a way to help birds survive through harsh winters. Now, their primary function is to attract birds to yards for viewing. It became disproportionately popular in the U.K., and now the U.K. purchases twice as much bird feed annually as the rest of Europe combined.

However, it’s hard to say for certain that the presence of bird feeders is causing the lengthened beaks. The change could be due to another difference in the environment that the researchers didn’t recognize, or it could be that they are evolving different songs, for instance.

Britain seems to be a paradise for birds. In 2015, the journal Global Change Biology published a similar study on a birds called black caps and found that over a 12-year period, black caps increasingly started wintering in Britain instead of the Caribbean.

As Charles Darwin learned with his finches, bird beaks adapt to their environment. And with so many bird feeders in the U.K., that’s the environment that great tits have to adapt to.

So much for " evolution taking millions of years"


As a birdman myself i think it's interesting.. I do worry about in 4-5 years from now when there are thousands of drones zipping all over the sky..cant be good for birds.

So much for " evolution taking millions of years"


As a birdman myself i think it's interesting.. I do worry about in 4-5 years from now when there are thousands of drones zipping all over the sky..cant be good for birds.

In all seriousness, that would have been one of my last guesses as to your hobbies.

I don't own any books or binoculars but im an animal lover..i like to feed the birds and squirrels.

I don't own any books

It's all good. I love animals, but not a birdman myself. My wife on the other hand, loves birds especially her humming bird feeder.

It's all good. I love animals, but not a birdman myself. My wife on the other hand, loves birds especially her humming bird feeder.

Have you noticed the eagle's nest at I-90 and Arlington Heights Road?

No, I head West from Meacham, but I have been by there several times for Cubs game and to O'Hare. I'll look next time I go that way. I had noticed some newer commercial development on the south side of I-90 in that area.

I seen 7 or 8 black squirrel on 88th- 90th street tween cornell and east end..first time i seen black squirrel in this state.

Likes chick rock . . . feeds the birds . . . 312 is much more sensitive and whimsical than we give him credit for . . .

There goes the neighborhood...

There goes the neighborhood...

I see black squirrels in north Evanston and Wilmette all the time. What I always wonder is why don't the breed with the regular gray squirrels and wipe out the variation? I should have paid more attention in biology classes.

I caught two in michigan and had em in a plastic bin with a lid..had 1/4" holes drilled for fresh air and gave them to a friend to bring back to Chicago..they chewed a hole through the plastic and got loose in her van.. They jumped out at a gas station in Indiana. I had a plan to start a population in McKinley Pk.

Also, typing this reminded me of a conversation I overheard two old black ladies having in a restaurant. One of them came home and saw her kitchen window was smashed in. She thought it was a burglar. She told her friend she looked inside and saw his eyes glowing in the dark. He was about 5'5" or so. It turned out it was a raccoon standing on its rear legs. She had no idea they could be that tall. Frankly, neither did I.

My buddy's old man has a hybrid falcon he hunts pheasant and doves with..beautiful bird..1\3 the size of the massive hawks we have on the south side.

You didnt see any crows or jays for while with the west nile wiping them out but the population rebounding now.

I seen 7 or 8 black squirrel on 88th- 90th street tween cornell and east end..first time i seen black squirrel in this state.

I put dandelions on my window sill for the monk parrots..i like those noisy Mfers.

I see black squirrels in north Evanston and Wilmette all the time. What I always wonder is why don't the breed with the regular gray squirrels and wipe out the variation? I should have paid more attention in biology classes.

we had a red one a while back, but I really want go to olney, illinois, to see the white ones. when i caddied at beverly country club, they had a white one running around for a while.