Worms are are wriggly slimy things, aren't they? Actually worms are very important animals because they help with the process called decomposition.

Decomposition happens when animals and plants die, and their bodies are broken down and eventually turned into soil! This decomposition is important because all of the minerals, nutrients and other things that make up plants and animals are recycled back into the soil for other plants to use.

Puffballs are the fruiting part of a fungus. Fungi are important decomposers

Lots of things help this decomposition to happen more quickly: the sun, water, bacteria, fungi and mould - and most importantly worms!

Without worms, plants and animals that died would fall to the ground and never disappear. Think what our world would be like with all this dead stuff piling up everywhere!

Worms eat decaying and dead things and then poop them out to make a rich fertiliser for other plants to use. In healthy soil, there are a lot of worms, probably millions just in your garden. Each of these worms can eat a lot, sometimes more than their weight in food each day. As they eat, they also create tunnels in the soil. Their tunnels add air to the soil, which also speeds up the rotting process.

All this means that worms are very important recyclers, turning tons of dead stuff into fertiliser each day all around the world.

What happens to a tui when it dies? Its body will be decomposed just like all other animals and recycled back into soil. Maggots will slowly eat away its soft parts. Then later hard parts like its bones, feathers and beak will be broken down. Eventually worms will turn all of this decomposed material into soil.