Birds are picking up discarded cigarette butts at a railway station and using the smoke to fumigate their wings of parasites, experts said.

The rooks have been seen swooping on to the platform and tracks at Exeter St David’s in Devon to collect fag ends.

Commuters have watched as the birds place their wings over the smoke – collecting the fumes underneath.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said that the animals are using the smoke to fumigate themselves and clear their wings of insects.

Jeff Jones, a commuter from Budleigh Salterton, saw the birds collecting the cigarette ends on Tuesday.

He said: “I noticed the rooks because they are not usually found in towns. They were generally flapping about when a chap flicked a cigarette butt on to the track.One of the rooks swooped down and picked up the butt. It then flew around and landed on the platform, dancing around with this smoking cigarette in its beak. It looked quite comical.”

“But then it dropped the butt on the platform and pulled its wings over it, collecting the smoke.

Richard Archer, of the RSPB in Exeter, said it was the first time he had heard of the phenomenon. But he added that the birds may have adapted and learned that the cigarettes can be used to kill parasites.

“Rooks are very intelligent birds. There was time, perhaps 20 years ago, when you never saw one in towns and cities. But like carrion crows and magpies, they may be adapting to urban life.

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