Clipmarks | Great tits Clips

Ancient tree helps birds survive

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:03:51 GMT

clipped by: valann 47

An ancient species of tree is helping Britain's birds survive the effects of climate change, scientists have found.

Frequent early spring weather means blue tits and great tits have been laying eggs ahead of schedule, making it difficult for them to find food.

However ecologists say birds have been feeding on gall wasps, which make their homes in Turkey oak trees, rather than the usual young caterpillars.

The discovery was made during a study by the University of Edinburgh.

The Turkey oak was reintroduced to Britain three centuries ago

It had been feared that the Turkey oak, reintroduced to Britain three centuries ago after an absence of thousands of years, may pose a threat to native plants and animals.

But now it appears to be providing the country's birds with a food source.

Tags: birds, survival, trees, turkey oak

Kill yourself like a man

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:45:56 GMT

clipped by: othiym
clipper's remarks: Sidewalk win.

Clip Source: www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net

Headbutt the sidewalk:

Manliness: 10

Style: 3

Awesomeness: 10

Mess: 4

What you need: a sidewalk.

How to do it:

Step 1: Slam your head into the sidewalk.
Step 2: Repeat.

Headbutting is probably the manliest thing ever. Not only is it useful for suicide, it's also a great way to break up with your girlfriend. For example, I couldn't find the words to tell my ex that our relationship was over, so one day while we were watching TV I headbutt her in the tits. Then I picked up my jacket and left. No awkward goodbyes, no "still friends" bullshit. Just a couple of bruised titties and a failed relationship. I rule.

Tags: sidewalk suicide

Great tit upsets smokers...

Thu, 29 May 2008 07:37:57 GMT

clipped by: queerty
clipper's remarks: They are calling them the "Butt Bin" family!

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Smokers visiting a nature reserve in Kinross have been told to make alternative arrangements after a Great Tit built a nest in a cigarette bin.

Despite a range of ready-made nest boxes around Vane Farm at Loch Leven the bird has opted for the bin outside the visitors' centre door.

Luckily the nest was spotted by a visitor who saw the bird emerge from the box before it was used by a smoker.

The RSPB said there are currently about four baby Great Tits in the nest.

Raymond Welsh, the visitor centre and coffee shop manager, said the birds were proving to be a huge attraction.

He said: "A couple on holiday from England told me that a tit was nesting in the cigarette box.

"At first I thought they were mistaken and that the birds were just looking for food.

"Then I looked in the box and there she was sitting quietly on her nest.

"It's just great that nature is everywhere."

Help Protect Great Tits

Thu, 22 May 2008 17:24:52 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

Help Protect Great Tits, Fight Global Warming, Scientists Say (With Pictures)

This is a post about birds. What did you expect?

Researchers have found that at least one species of bird is coping well with global warming in the UK: Great Tits. They are laying their eggs earlier in the spring to better synchronize with the arrival of caterpillars. But the Great Tits in the Netherlands haven't been able to adjust, so this seems to be a local phenomenon. Many Great Tits could be affected.

"The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commented that other species are likely to fare much worse than great tits as temperatures rise."

It is not yet clear why Great Tits in the UK are doing that well, but finding out the reason why is very important to further our understanding of how animals will adapt to climate change.

Great tits enjoying the warmer weather – so far

Fri, 09 May 2008 15:10:03 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Had to clip this one for the headline.

Clip Source: environment.newscientist.com

As springs have got warmer, great tits near Oxford, UK, have shifted their breeding times to maximise the chances of their chicks' survival (Image: T.A. Wilkins)Enlarge

As climate change forces animals to shift their breeding schedules, one group of British birds has been able to quickly adapt to the warmer weather without having to rely on slower evolution.

There are limits to their flexibility however, and when those limits are reached, global warming could hit the population hard, researchers say.

Since 1961, ecologists have been tracking the population of great tits that breed in Wytham Woods, near Oxford, UK. "It's only in the past 30 to 35 years that you see this increase in temperature in early spring to which the birds have responded," says study leader Ben Sheldon of the University of Oxford.

The birds now lay their eggs 2 weeks earlier than they did in the 1970s, tracking a 2-week shift in the emergence of their favoured food – the caterpillars of the winter moth.

Tags: nature

Great Tits cope with climate change

Fri, 09 May 2008 07:20:50 GMT

clipped by: valann 47

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

At least one of Britain's birds appears to be coping well as climate change alters the availability of a key food.

Researchers found that great tits are laying eggs earlier in the spring than they used to, keeping step with the earlier emergence of caterpillars.

Writing in the journal Science, they point out that the same birds in the Netherlands have not managed to adjust. Understanding why some species in some places are affected more than others by climatic shifts is vital, they say.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commented that other species are likely to fare much worse than great tits as temperatures rise.

The research uses a long record of great tits in a breeding site at Wytham Woods near Oxford, where observations began in 1947.

"We think it’s the longest running population study of wild animals anywhere in the world where animals are marked (ringed)," said Ben Sheldon of Oxford University, who led the new research.

Tags: science, nature, birds, great tits

Great tits cope well with warming

Fri, 09 May 2008 00:47:04 GMT

clipped by: rosweed
clipper's remarks: I couldn't resist this headline. It was sent to us by a listener.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Great tits cope well with warming

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website

At least one of Britain's birds appears to be coping well as climate change alters the availability of a key food.

Researchers found that great tits are laying eggs earlier in the spring than they used to, keeping step with the earlier emergence of caterpillars.

My Year Of Flops Case File #90 - GLITTER

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 04:09:26 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.avclub.com

Glitter arrived at a crucial moment in what I call the hoification of Mariah Carey. Hoification occurs when an actress or singer stops being judged on their body of work and begins getting judged by the work they’ve had done to their body.

that message was “Hey World: Get a load of my tits! They’re really great!”

The enduring appeal of the hoification process is seemingly easy to understand. Sex sells, doesn’t it?

Glitter hit theaters at the worst possible time for Carey’s previously blessed career. Her early good girl image was a faded memory, the hoification process had turned off as many fans as it created, and she was careening rapidly towards a nervous breakdown.

In a performance that, to borrow an old Dorothy Parker line, runs the gamut of emotions from A to B, Carey stars as a biracial striver who grows up in an orphanage

She seems to be thinking “Oh shit, I’m supposed to be sad. What’s sad? I know: a puppy being killed.

but 30 minutes into this I felt my life force draining away.

Tags: movies, entertainment, humor

My Kind of Militant!

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 02:56:52 GMT

clipped by: guamboy76
clipper's remarks: Yowza

Clip Source: mail.google.com

Great Deals on Deluxe Cruises Special prices on all destinations

Tags: tits

Wikipedia and Great tit

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:00:38 GMT

clipped by: psinexus
clipper's remarks: Great Tits are easy to recognize, large in size at 14 cm, with a broad black line .....

Know more about this bird ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Tit

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

The Great Tit, Parus major, is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe and Asia in any sort of woodland. It is resident, and most Great Tits do not migrate.

Tags: great tits, wikipedia, bird

Things that annoy us!

Sat, 07 Jul 2007 02:49:59 GMT

clipped by: mightymatt
clipper's remarks: This is great...you nmight some some understanding of New Zealand, but funny anyway

Clip Source: www.kiwiblog.co.nz

"Things that get on my tits"

A female reader has sent in the A to Z below of "things which get on her tits". I am informed it is in fact a group effort from the bored and grumpy employees of a certain Wellington workplace, which shall remain nameless.

Tags: annoy, things, kiwi

Cock bad, tit good, says RSPB

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 01:23:28 GMT

clipped by: cpltaiji
clipper's remarks: Actually, I love watching great tits! Hard to find here though!

Clip Source: www.metro.co.uk

a cock and a tit

Twitchers are in a flap as cocks are banned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds but tits are OK.

The word, which has been used for centuries to describe a male bird, comes up as four asterisks on the charity's website forum where bird watchers chat about their latest sitings.

On user who found his conversation censored by the website during a heated discussion about male black birds wrote: 'When is it not in order to refer to a male bird as a **** and a female as a hen? I've heard of PC but that is taking things too far.

It's censorship that is just silly. What should I have said then? The daddy bird, father bird?'

The spokesman added: 'Cock has for many years been the word for a male bird and we'd never try to break with tradition for the sake of political correctness.

'We have whole pages dedicated to blue tits and great tits because they are some of Britain's best-loved birds.'

Tags: nature, life, humor, general interest, fun, animals

Positive side to climate change

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 16:00:28 GMT

clipped by: tpq62
clipper's remarks: I'm juvenile. So sue me.

Clip Source: www.worldclimatereport.com

Global Warming Good for Mediterranean Tits?

When some people think of a trip to the Mediterranean, they think there is a good chance to see a wide variety of tits, and for those of you interested in global warming, you might fairly wonder how climate change in the Mediterranean might change this situation. Well, you are in luck given an article in the most recent issue of Global Change Biology that specifically addresses potential climate impacts on Mediterranean tits. There are certainly many tits to study in that region, and there is no doubt that any change in climate could have an impact on their characteristics. To us at World Climate Report, this sounds like an important issue and we applaud any effort to explore climate change and tits throughout the planet.

An international team of tit experts from France, Belgium, and Canada note that “Climate change over the past century has had important ecological consequences, but predictions concerning the impact of future climate change on biodiversity remain subject to large uncertainties.” As tits are hardly confined to the Mediterranean, this work could provide insights into tit response in many other regions. World Climate Report has focused on tits in the past (see our story “Great tit watching in the British Isles” for more details), and we eagerly awaited the publication of this important manuscript.

So we find in this article that global warming could result in a more robust tit community in the Mediterranean, at least for the blue tits. Hopefully, these experts will turn their attention to the great tits, as well as other tits, sometime in the future, and if they do, we will gladly focus once again on global warming and the tits throughout the world.

Tags: global warming, science, ornithology