In what can only be described as an epic win for headline writers everywhere, New Scientist is reporting that some species of birds are learning to adapt to the changing climate.

Global warming has brought earlier springs to the British Isles over the past 30 to 35 years, causing the birds’ primary food source, whose hatching is triggered by temperature changes, to appear a full two weeks earlier.

Still, the clever birds have adapted, and what’s truly striking is that the behavior is almost certainly learned. True evolutionary change would take generations, and likely would not happen quickly enough to adjust to changes brought on by global warming.

But those attempting to marginalize the effects climate change would be wise to note that the great tits’ (had to write it once) success probably cannot be duplicated on a larger scale.  As biologist Marcel Visser puts it:

 “So it looks like all the birds are following a rule – ‘breed earlier in warm years’ – that doesn't work well in the Netherlands…. ‘It's kind of a coincidence that the rule the Oxford birds use happens to work.’”

 And that’s not good news for a significant portion of avian species.