BLOOD-THIRSTY BIRDS

Great tits’ strong beaks are mainly used for breaking open nuts and seeds, but their keen eye for new feeding opportunities means these formidable weapons are sometimes used on larger targets. In Finland, a small group of great tits supplemented their diet of seeds by turning on the other seed-eaters, targeting and killing common redpolls, and feeding on their eyes and brains. In Hungary, great tits deliberately searched for hibernating pipistrelle bats in caves, killing them with blows to the head and eating them. Great tits’ compact, strong build means they can easily overpower weaker species. They will also turn on their own kind, and cannibalism has been recorded.