If you're spotting fewer blackbirds in your garden this winter, it's time to start doling out some bird treats and reporting any concerns, thanks to a menacing new virus putting our feathered friends at risk.
With an estimated six million breeding pairs, blackbirds are one of the UK's most plentiful feathered residents and a regular feature in gardens countrywide.
During the cold months, these birds stay put instead of migrating, relying on available food resources to persevere through the barren and frosty winter period.
But lately, something more sinister than scarcity of food is causing trouble for the blackbirds the emergence of a lethal new virus.
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