Richard Collins: German blue tits die from mystery illness

Household milk deliveries are back, thanks to the Covid-19 lockdown.

In 1929, a blue tit in Southampton pecked open a bottle-top to get at the cream underneath. Others copied it and, soon, tits all over Britain and Ireland were doing the same. Tackling today’s milk cartons won’t be so easy but a far greater challenge is facing blue tits in Germany; they are dying of a mysterious illness.