Dinner time can be a strenuous affair no matter what size your brood is, but spare a thought for the long- tailed tit captured on camera feeding her eleven chicks at the RSPB’s Fairburn Ings nature reserve this week.
I just couldn’t resist this story – many of us feed the birds during the winter months and then think that in the spring and summertime, there is plenty of food available and birds can fend for themselves. Because many birds are feeding their young and with some species having two or three broods in the coming weeks, the RSPB is urging everyone to continue putting out food and water over the summer.
Long-tailed tits were among the birds that struggled with the unusually cold weather this winter. They, like other small-bodied birds, are particularly susceptible to the cold, having to eat almost continuously to stay alive.
Long-tailed tits flew into the top 10 of the wildlife charity’s Big Garden Birdwatch for the first time last year suggesting they were getting used to feeding on seeds and peanuts in hanging feeders and on bird tables. But this year’s survey showed a drop of 27% since 2009, pushing them to number 12.
The picture was taken by RSPB volunteer Gary Shilton.
