GREAT TITS

£ 960

A study published in 2007 found great tits in Dutch orchards reduced caterpillar damage to the apple crop. Putting up nestboxes encouraged great tits to occupy the orchards and eat the caterpillars, increasing the apple yield by 1,200kg/ha. The authors did not put a value on this, but assuming a wholesale price of 80p/kg (Source: Defra), great tits provide ecosystem services worth £960 per ha – minus the cost of the nestboxes, less than £20/ha.