Greetings, avid fans, gardeners, and ornithologists!

Do you remember how, two weeks ago, I built a little corner with a bird feeder in a nook of my garden? I must admit, I’m very pleased with it.

It’s surrounded by strawberries, gooseberries, and currants — these plants are meant to serve as a provisional shelter for small birds from predators. Of course, I’d like there to be something more substantial for the birds to hide in, but for now, this will have to do!

Yesterday, while sitting on the terrace with a cup of coffee, I heard a terrible racket. It sounded at the very least like a woodpecker tapping nearby! Before I could get up — I’m not so young anymore to quickly check what the noise was — everything fell silent. So, I decided to set up my nature-recording camera and wait to see if the noise would repeat itself. You can imagine my surprise when I watched the recorded footage after work today! It turned out it wasn’t a woodpecker, but a small, sweet Great Tit that kept flying to the feeder and hammering its beak into the seeds like crazy! Who would have thought this little bird could make so much noise!

However, don’t be fooled into thinking Great Tits are so innocent. They look small, sweet, and beautiful, but behind that charm lies something darker. Scientists have discovered that with Europe’s increasingly warmer winters, Great Tits have started fighting migratory birds for nesting sites. And this isn’t just a territorial dispute. Tits are increasingly killing migratory birds, and the worst part is, they eat their brains! Yes, you read that correctly. They are the most insane and twisted birds I’ve encountered in my garden!

They have chosen the Pied Flycatcher as their enemy. These are migratory birds, much smaller than the tits, that fly from Africa to Europe every spring to build nests and feed on insects. They are beautiful, black and white, and truly delicate. But research published in the journal Current Biology reveals something disturbing. Great Tits are increasingly attacking and killing Pied Flycatchers, fighting over nesting sites and food. In some years, the number of male Flycatcher deaths due to tit attacks reached up to nine percent! Worse still, all the dead flycatchers were found in active tit nests, often with severe head wounds, and their brains—eaten by these dark little birds!

That’s all for now, my dear gardeners and ornithologists. Guard your brains!