Blue tits embrace 'aromatherapy'

imcarthur · imcarthur's Garage

"Blue tits use medicinal plants to disinfect their nests, scientists have discovered.

The birds line their nests with aromatic plants such as mint or lavender, which kill bacteria.

That creates a more sterile environment for chicks, which in turn grow faster and have a better chance of survival.

However, individual blue tits are quite picky about which plants they use, and it is not clear how they pass their knowledge on to other birds."

From BBC Earth News

With that title, I couldn't resist posting . . .

Ian

Racerbvd · Racerbvd's Garage

I think it is cool, not just the tits part..

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

They also figured out how to open the old-timey milk delivery bottles (thru the paper cap). English scientists were able to trace the spread of the this cultural trait geographically and pinpoint the location where the tits first 'discovered' it.

That was the first time anyone had traced an animal innovation to its source and followed its spread thru a society.

Can't recall which type of tit it was.

But everyone's favorite tit is the Great Tit.

- they are all Parids, like chickadees, and always make for a fun Ornithology lecture.

john70t · 08-16-2009, 03:26 PM

Haven't seen a tufted titmouse yet this year.
Only daily Cardinals, Goldfinches, Jays, Sparrows(house finch), with an occasional Flicker and Peregine Falcon.

I read "The good year", a book about a national competition between three of the leading bird-watching personalities who view/document the most birds in the US boundries within one year.
It was more about the people than the birds of course.

legion · 06:05 PM

Speaking of great tits...

The great red tit:

Back in high school, a few years before I graduated, the school used to be painted kind of a pinkish/tan. The school had a planetarium. For the senior prank one year, then put a red 40-gallon garbage can upside down on top of the planetarium. You could see it from the road...