Blue tits off the milk

That's what they say in the Independent, at least:

Suburban Britain was fascinated when blue tits learnt how to peck open milk bottle tops on doorsteps and get at the cream underneath. But now, although the birds are as common as ever, their ability seems to have deserted them.

First observed about 75 years ago, the behaviour spread until, at its height in the Fifties and Sixties, there was barely a doorstep in the land that wasn't visited by the feathered raiders. Sometimes the birds followed milk floats and swooped when a delivery was made.

Posted by David on December 30, 2003 10:55 PM