Songbirds warm to Britain as a winter home

SONGBIRDS are staying all winter in Britain because gardens are stuffed with so much food for them, an Oxford University study has found.

While the sight of a blackcap usually heralds the end of winter, they now stay in some gardens year-round due to a slightly milder climate and an abundance of bird food.

The little birds lead more sedentary lives, research by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Oxford University and the Max Planck Institute found.

The study, published in the journal Global Change Biology, suggests that humans are shaping the natural world through changes in our back gardens.

Scientists used colour-ringing data, with more than 600 birds fitted with unique rings, and monitored where they flew over the year.

The warblers are normally found in the British Isles during the spring and summer, when temperatures are favourable and food is abundant. They then migrate to the Mediterranean.

However, researchers found that in recent decades this has changed and blackcaps now frequently stay in Britain and Ireland during winter.

Even the anatomy of blackcaps has altered, with the wings and beaks of the birds evolving to match their eating habits in the UK, scientists said.