Abstract
IN a lecture to the Hastings and St. Leonards Natural History Society on April 23, Mr. Eric Hardy described the serious effect upon the numbers of insectivorous British birds as a result of the severe frosts during the past winter, when, particularly in the north, vast numbers of thrushes, blackbirds, titmice and other birds were killed by the long absence of food and water. In recounting at length many of his ornithological studies in the north, Mr. Hardy stressed the possible effect of this partial loss of useful insectivorous birds at a time of national food-growing efforts, and the possibilities of increased wireworm damage to cornland, and cabbage white caterpillars to cultivated greens. There is a marked shortage of many of the residential insect-eating birds in woods in the north, although Nature has recovered from the severe winter toll of bird-life more rapidly than was anticipated and it will be interesting to compare the future results with previous hard winters. Nevertheless, there is an urgent need to protect and increase insectivorous birds by providing more nesting and feeding haunts, for example, growing more undergrowth in woods and plantations, and preventing loss of existing bird haunts by river pollution and heath fires.
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Effect of Winter Frosts on Bird-life. Nature 145, 773 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/145773b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/145773b0