Somerset campaigner warns blackbird decline is 'taste of future'
A young ornithologist has warned a mosquito-born disease linked to a sharp decline in blackbird populations "is a taste of things to come".Mya-Rose Craig, from the Chew Valley in Somerset, says the spread of the Usutu virus is more proof British wildlife is struggling "in a way people don't realise".Ms Craig, 23, known as BirdGirlUK on social media, has been campaigning for the environment since the age of 13 and launched the Black2Nature initiative to encourage children from minority backgrounds to engage in conservation."One of the reasons [blackbird decline] concerns me is because it's getting worse because of climate change," she said.
Data published earlier this week revealed Usutu has spread across most of southern England in just five years, and blackbird populations in Greater London have fallen as much as 40% in that time.Scientists monitoring the progress of the virus fear mosquitos will expand their range as the planet warms, spreading the diseases they carry.Ms Craig, who was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Bristol in 2020, told BBC Breakfast: "My biggest concern is that blackbirds are one the most common species in the UK, they are everywhere. "When you heard bird song, it's quite often blackbirds that you are hearing, so I think it's quite upsetting."
She added: "I think on top of the disease, one of the reasons it concerns me is because it's getting worse because of climate change."Because of warmer weather and increased flooding, so it feels like kind of a taste of what's to come."Ms Craig said she was a "big defender" of the UKs "small, brown" birds."I think our garden species are so special which is why I find it so worrying, the speed of decline we are experiencing at the moment," she said.
"Our wildlife is really, really struggling in the UK in a way I don't think people really realise."Ms Craig added blackbirds are far from the only species to be hit by climate change, pointing out that the starling populations have fallen 80% since the 1960s.She does a lot of campaigning based on the mental health benefits of being close to nature."I think a lot if the time when we are talking about species decline it feels very separate, but actually imagine a city without bird song - it has a really terrible knock-on effect on people as well," she said.
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