Can Blue Tits Can Save Our Conker Trees?

ScienceDaily (Aug. 28, 2012) — Blue tits, a familiar garden bird, could be the salvation of our imperiled conker trees (horse-chestnut trees), which are under severe attack by a tiny non-native moth that has spread from continental Europe.

Conker fans from across the country are being called upon to discover how many of the moth's caterpillars, hidden inside the leaves, are being discovered and preyed upon by birds.

The leaf-mining moth arrived in London just ten years ago, and has since spread across most of England and Wales. The moth caterpillars eat the leaves while hiding inside them, so damaging the leaves and causing them to turn brown and making the tree appear as if autumn has come early.

Experts at the NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the University of Hull are asking for the public's help to find out how many moth caterpillars are eaten by birds, such as blue tits. They are asking volunteers to check leaves from a horse chestnut tree for the distinctive damage caused by the birds to the leaf mines and report it through the Conker Tree Science website.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120830065739.htm