Penguins are paying the price for human interference in nature

Having exhausted the fruit and berry crops of their Nordic homelands, waxwings are heading southwards, writes Richard Collins.

The threat of starvation drives these bohemian migrants to our shores. In previous ‘waxwing winters’, the visitors found sanctuary in Irish hedgerows and gardens. There is food for them again this time around, but such ‘eruptions’ aren’t always rewarded.

For some creatures in our rapidly changing world, traditional journeys in search of food can end in disaster, as a research project described in the journal Current Biology shows.