Taking your dog for a walk could be having an impact on local birdlife, a study suggests.

An Australian team found dog-walking was prompting birds to take flight, causing numbers to plummet by 41%. The researchers said the birds were fleeing because they viewed the dogs as potential predators.

[Read](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6978272.stm “Read the Story”) (BBC)