Birds hatch too late in warmer springs

 Warmer springs are leaving birds hungry because they hatch after the caterpillar population has peaked, researchers have warned.

The Universities of Exeter, Edinburgh and Sheffield found that the emergence of chicks was “increasingly mismatched” with their main food source of oak caterpillars, which are only active for a few weeks and are emerging earlier as springs warm. Great tits were found to hatch on average two days late and pied flycatchers 13 days too late.

The research was published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.