Press Releases - May/June 2010
Item 23

No. 2010-05-23
May 2010

Girl power! Female bird builds colossal nest

A female Great Tit has built what appears to be the biggest nest ever made by this species. The monster nest, constructed inside a revolving compost maker, is four and a half times larger than a normal Great Tit nest.

Female Great Tits build their nests alone, usually in a nest box or in a cavity of a tree. However, in Draycott, Gloucestershire, one female had different plans, pushing herself to the limit to set up home in a compost maker. This large cavity has been filled with clump after clump of moss and wool to make the most palatial pad in the neighbourhood.

Across the UK, hundreds of thousands of birds are currently building nests, incubating eggs and rearing their young. In gardens, householders are keeping a close eye on nesting birds, such as Great Tits, through the British Trust for Ornithology’s (BTO’s) Garden Nesting Survey. Spring started slowly after the unusually cold winter but nests are now brimming with eggs and young, and the first few fledglings are also starting to appear.

Dr Tim Harrison, BTO Garden BirdWatch, commented “Great Tits are resourceful birds that are quick to explore novel feeding and nesting opportunities. Amazingly, after constructing an enormous nest, this female Great Tit went on to lay eight eggs – around three quarters of her body weight!”

He added “If you have a nest in your garden, great or small, we want to hear about it through the BTO’s Garden Nesting Survey. A free colour wallchart of nests and eggs is available to help people get involved. With human population size and urbanisation ever increasing, the importance of gardens to breeding birds is essential to understand.”

Notes for editors

1. The BTO Garden Nesting Survey is sponsored by Gardenature (www.gardenature.co.uk) and supported by the John Spedan Lewis Foundation. The wallchart was produced with the support of BirdGuides, Richard and Peter Castell and BirdWatching magazine. For more information on the survey see www.bto.org/gns.

Gardenature – Nest Box/feeder Cam’s & General Wildlife Watching Supplies     

2. The BTO is the UK’s leading bird research organisation. Over 30,000 birdwatchers contribute to the BTO’s surveys. They collect information that forms the basis of conservation action in the UK. The BTO maintains a staff of 100 at its offices in Norfolk and Stirling, who analyse and publicise the results of project work. The BTO’s investigations are funded by government, industry and conservation organisations.

3. The BTO monitors the fortunes of nesting birds through a number of different surveys that, collectively, cover a wide range of habitats. Urban areas support important breeding populations of some species, including Swift, Blackbird, Starling, House Sparrow and Greenfinch. This means that we need to understand how these breeding populations are doing. The Garden Nesting Survey is providing information on the abundance of nesting birds in gardens and when they breed. A more advanced scheme, Nest Box Challenge (also run by the BTO) is encouraging householders to look inside nests to chart their success over the course of the breeding season.
        
         More information on the BTO’s range of nesting surveys can be found at www.nestingneighbours.net

For further information, please contact:

Tim Harrison (Garden BirdWatch Development Officer)
Office: 01842 750050 (9am to 5.30pm)
Email:

Paul Stancliffe (BTO Press Officer)
Office: 01842 750050 (9am to 5.30pm)
Mobile: 07845 900559 (anytime)
Email: 

Images of birds and of the West Midlands Ambassador are freely available in association with this press release
Please contact quoting reference 2010-05-23

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