A young ornithologist has warned that a mosquito-born disease linked to a sharp decline in blackbird populations is "a taste of what's to come".
Mya-Rose Craig, from the Chew Valley in Somerset, said the spread of the Usutu virus is proof British wildlife is struggling "in a way people don't realise".
Scientists are monitoring the spread of the virus amid warnings that mosquitoes and the diseases they carry may expand their range under climate change.
Ms Craig, 23, who is known as BirdGirlUK on social media, has been campaigning for the environment since the age of 13. She said: "One of the reasons [blackbird decline] concerns me is because it's getting worse because of climate change."
She added that with "warmer weather and increased flooding, it feels like kind of a taste of what's to come".
