Chick to chick

Despite signs of warmer weather now that the spring equinox has passed – and the arrival of these ducklings at Bocketts Farm, Surrey – forecasts suggest we must endure below-average temperatures until mid-april.

Urban blackbirds live longer but are less healthy than their country counterparts, a study has found.

The benefits of urban living include better access to food and less chance of being killed by a predator, scientists believe. The downside is that city birds age faster and are generally less fit.

Scientists from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands took blood samples from blackbirds in five cities – Granada, Seville and Madrid in Spain, Dijon in France, and Turku in Finland.

The signs of premature ageing also indicated that city birds were less healthy than those from woodland populations, said the scientists.

However, Dr Juan Ibanez-alamo, co-author of the report which appeared in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, said: “Mortality is lower in the cities, so the advantages of city life compensate for the negative health effects.”