Early Worm Gets the Bird

Worms are turning the tables. The early bird may get the worm, but researchers say invasive European earthworms appear to be reducing densities of ground-dwelling songbirds in North American forests.

Historically, the forests of northern North America were worm-free—a legacy of the Ice Age, which ended some 20,000 years ago. Over the past few hundred years, however, everyone from European colonists to anglers has helped European earthworms invade these wide-open soils. The worms reduce the amount of “litter” scattered on the forest floor and alter soil structure and plant communities, Scott Loss and Robert Blair of the University of Minnesota in St. Paul note in Conservation Biology.

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