Sometimes there will be surprising innovations in animal behaviour, caused by ecological pressure. That's what going on with these Great Tits bird (Parus major), as they searching for, capturing and devouring hibernating pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) in a Hungarian cave.
The tits specifically and systematically searched for and killed bats for food. However, when they were given additional food, the birds stopped searching for the bats. Suggesting the hypothesis that they may only have been eating them in reaction to a food scarcity caused by the winter.
Researchers from the Max-Planck Institute say that over two winters they found that they hunted and killed their prey on 18 separate occasions.
The bat has a tiny body, with short legs, a short tail and fairly narrow wings. By contrast the Great Tit is an aggressive bird and the largest tit found in Britain. They are mainly thought to feed on insects, spiders, seeds, nut and fruit. There are thought to be around 1.6 million pairs of Great Tits in Britain.
Via - Telegraph.co.uk , 9 Sept 2009
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