THE TIMES (London, UK) 04 October 06 Birds get taste for tadpoles as summer heat keeps worms under ground (Valerie Elliott)

Blackbirds changed their diet this summer with tadpoles and newts emerging as their dish of the day. But when they had the chance they also pecked on dragonflies and even minnows.

The new eating patterns were spotted by scores of people who took part in Garden BirdWatch. The British Trust for Ornithologists, which collates the sightings, blames the trend on the hot summer.

Paul Stancliffe, promotions officer, said: “Blackbirds usually feed on earthworms and insects. In hot weather the worms dig themselves very deep and with the ground being hard, it is difficult for the birds to get to them. There are also fewer insects in hot weather because it affects their breeding.”

The birds had gone angling for tadpoles and newts to feed to their chicks but themselves had found the food irresistible. “It will be very good food for them and will give the chicks and adult birds a greater percentage of protein in their diet,” Mr Stancliffe said.

It is unclear whether this new source of food will make blackbirds more robust. There are about ten million blackbirds in Britain. The phenomenon was seen in properties with ponds mainly in the south-east counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hampshire and Hertfordshire, but birds angling for food were also observed in Devon, Somerset, Worcestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lancashire.

One garden watcher from Hertfordshire noticed that a blackbird would stand at the edge of the pond watching the surface. As soon as a newt started to come up for air the bird would jump forwards, land on a water lily leaf and grab the newt as it broke surface. This householder lost three newts in this way and decided to cover the pond with netting. In Lincolnshire, an observer spotted a blackbird flying two or three feet out over the pond to grab a surfacing newt and never seemed to miss. In Devon a blackbird was spotted leading chicks to the edge of the pond and then catching and feeding tadpoles to the young.

Blackbirds were also seen catching dragonflies, and in Lancashire a blackbird was seen catching minnows at the shallow end of a pond.

This spot of angling was not confined to blackbirds, however. There were reports of carrion crows taking frogs, and magpies devouring newts. But Mr Stancliffe does not believe that the popularity of pond life on the birds’ menu is a threat to newt or frog populations.

Garden BirdWatch is sponsored by the BTO and CJ WildBird Foods and has 16,000 regular observers recording birds, bird behaviour and other wildlife in their gardens.
Birds get taste for tadpoles as summer heat keeps worms under ground

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