It doesn't smell very tweet... but it's home: Three tiny chicks nest among cigarette ends in pub's ash bin

-Blue Tit thought to have laid eggs in bin because it simulates the small burrows and holes they use as nests in nature
-Soft cushion of cigarette butts may also have provided a comfortable base

By TAMMY HUGHES

Hatched: The chicks will be fed by their mother until they are old enough to leave their unconventional nest

Men have long since visited the pub to check out the local birds - but you're likely to find a totally different kind of chick in this drinking hole.
Staff at The Green Man, in Welling, Kent, were stunned when they discovered that a Blue Tit had hijacked a cigarette bin in their beer garden.
The plucky bird clearly wasn't put off by the smell and made a makeshift nest out of feathers, twigs and moss.
Despite the obvious drawbacks of nesting in a foul-smelling and ashy bin it is not altogether surprising. As well as the being covered and warm the tiny holes in the face of the bin would keep predators at bay.

Inside the bin: The mother Blue Tit has prepared a nest to house her new family

And a soft cushion of cigarette butts might also have provided a comfortable and absorbent base for the nest. In the wild Blue Tits nest in small crevasses in tree trunks which is not a dissimilar environment.
Cleaner Tricia Andrews, 51, was surprised to find the stowaway and three eggs when she opened the wall-mounted bin to empty it. She promptly put up a notice warning punters not to dispose of their cigarette butts in the tray.
And last Thursday, the eggs hatched, revealing three tiny chicks.

Home tweet home: Customers have been banned from disposing of their cigarettes in the bin

Miss Andrews, who has worked at the pub for four years, said: “When I opened it, a bird flew out which made me jump.
'I then saw these little eggs. It was quite exciting. It’s quite unusual really.
'I’ve been listening and trying to look in and I’ve seen the mother bird flying in and out to see them.'
Pub landlady Lisa Cobbold, 52, said: 'We thought Tricia was winding us up at first.
'We don’t know what to do for the best. We don’t want to interfere too much with the chicks in case the mother abandons them.'

Landlords Steve and Lisa Coobold with employee David Hall were startled when they discovered the small bird nesting in their beer garden


Blue Tits find small holes to nest in to keep predators at bay

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says birds will nest wherever there is an opportunity.
He added: 'This can lead to problems if it causes conflict with building maintenance, but generally it’s OK and people enjoy the experience of having birds close by.'

source: dailymail