Not necessarily, if you're implying that cats predate birds efficiently.
Cats are fairly lax, in a manner of speaking, in catching birds. Mice, voles, gophers, and rabbits are easier to catch and more plentiful. We'll see them catch maybe one bird a month.
In contrast, the number of birds in our area is innumerable. We'll get hundreds at our feeders every day, and see dozens of songbirds (Robins, Atarlings, Red Winged Blackbirds, Magpies, Woodpeckers, Pigeons, etc.) while driving into town.
And that's without getting in the raptors (some of whom are a threat to cats).
I imagine humanity's reduction of bird's habitats has a bigger impact than the carnivores we bring with us.
You are very lucky. The last place I lived, the birds almost all disappeared over the course of about five years.
When i first moved there, I couldn't sleep past 5:30am because of the raucous dawn chorus. There were always birds around, and i had several feeders for them all.
By the time I moved away, the chorus was one bird. Maybe. And the feeders never got used.
From what I read on the internet, this is becoming more and more common.
Domestic cats are VERY successful hunters in general, with the highest success rates of all animals in that kingdom.
That said, I don’t know what success looks like over different kinds of prey. Over the last year or so we’ve also had a pretty bad outbreak of avian flu which has done a lot to depress bird populations—though my understanding is it has been mainly farmed chickens and turkeys that have been hard hit.
> In one night, a black-footed cat kills between 10 and 14 rodents or small birds, averaging a kill about every 50 minutes, according to Hunter. With a 60 percent success rate, black-footed cats are about three times as successful as lions, which average a successful kill about 20 to 25 percent of the time, Hunter said.
> Owners reported that their pets killed an average of 3.5 prey items/month, leading to an estimated ecological impact per cat of 14.2-38.9 prey ha^−1 yr^−1. This is similar or higher than the per-animal ecological impact of wild carnivores but the effect is amplified by the high density of cats in neighborhoods. As a result, pet cats around the world have an ecological impact greater than native predators but concentrated within ~100 m of their homes.
> We estimate that cats in the contiguous United States annually kill between 1.3 and 4.0 billion birds (median=2.4 billion) (Fig. 1a), with ∼69% of this mortality caused by un-owned cats. The predation estimate for un-owned cats was higher primarily due to predation rates by this group averaging three times greater than rates for owned cats.
On the contrary, outdoor cats love to bring their meals indoors. Partially because it's a safe place to eat it, and also because they try and give it to their owners first (who are obviously terrible hunters, since they've yet to catch a single mouse).
Yes, some outdoor cats bring some of their meals inside. That does not mean all of them even bring a majority inside. Owner-reported predation is a terribly inaccurate way to estimate kills. Honestly, subject-reported nearly anything has downsides and issues with inaccurate reporting. It's generally not the best way to gather data.
I live by a river. There is such a thriving bird population these days thanks to improving regulations on dumping in the river, I am pretty sure cats are prey.
There is a massive red tailed hawk population. And a moderate Bald Eagle population. Hell, we have started getting Pelicans the last few years, and I simply would not put it past them to swallow a moderate sized mammal.
The Canada Geese and turkeys would win in a fight any day.
It is anecdotal, but it seems to me as waterways become less polluted, you are starting to see these sorts of animals return to even dense urban areas like Chicago.
Nobody is talking about Canada geese. Cats eviscerate songbirds and other small birds.
My son and I are actually gathering data of bird populations in our immediate area. We live in an urban area where half the block consists of 2-3 family apartments. Our yard is a bird highway due to where our home is placed and the trees. The tenants tend to migrate in cohorts. We noticed anecdotally that the bird population grew a year after a few key neighbors, who kept outdoor cats and were cat people who fed strays, moved away.
It’s a difficult issue as like many things, extreme behavior drives extreme outcomes. I’d like to understand the impact of house cats vs mentally ill people who attract feral cats. (Or similar folks who attract disruptive populations of birds like pigeons)
Based on your birdlist, it sounds like we live in the same region, and I agree. The birds are all very social and will quickly mob an aggressive cat if the lookouts don't warn everyone in time.
We just moved here. I saw a Brown Thrasher on my wood pile. Bit of a weird place for one, but cool. Then I saw the neighbor's cat take a flying leap at it. Now I'm thinking it would be irresponsible of me to put out a feeder or attract birds with this cat running around. Which is kind of a big deal for me.
I'm trying to work out how to explain to the neighbors that I love cats, but my yard is my yard and I have a right to not have their cat in it killing birds.
Ask if they’d be willing to put a birdsbesafe collar on them as a compromise. I have two outdoor cats, and after making this change the bird kill rate fell to zero.
I'll have to look into those! I don't want to be that dick neighbor calling the humane society on them, but they're also being the dick neighbor letting their cat run loose.
We're 2 blocks off of a main road and people drive like idiots down our street. It's not a great place for a cat to roam.
Being as we're in town and there are laws against letting the cat roam free, it would more be a discussion of your cat is chasing birds on my property. Do something about it.
In most jurisdictions outdoor cats are not allowed. If you can identify the owner of the cat, you can file a complaint. Here in Seattle, if several complaints are filed the person may eventually have to surrender their cat.
Don't let your cats outside, folks. They kill wildlife, destroy gardens, and poop everywhere.
Speaking from the UK I have to say that is insane. Like all animals, humans included, cats belong outdoors and to deprive them of their natural rhythms is cruel.
I agree that we need to think about how to nurture bird populations but keeping cats pent up indoors is wrong - and is reflected by how much worse they behave when that is done.
Sketchy link to a PDF by UC Davis. I was looking for a reference on the average lifespan of an outdoor cat, which I always here quoted around 2.5 years. It's a little write-up on why it's maybe not so nice to let your cat outside.
Maybe it's different in the UK, but I've seen a number of drivers speed up and swerve in neighborhood streets to run cats over. It's fucked up, but it's a thing. I remember having classmates in high school that would brag about it.
Add every other danger, jumping into a backyard with the wrong dog, parasites, coyotes, and it's not exactly an idyllic stroll even for indoor/outdoor cats.
I'm sure dogs aren't allowed to wander the neighborhood in the UK. I would have no problem if they confined their cat to the yard or let her out while supervising.
Our two cats are quite fulfilled and pleased with their situation despite only going outside on leash.
> average lifespan of an outdoor cat, which I always here quoted around 2.5 years.
All bar one of the cats that I and my family have had were outdoor cats who lived much longer than that. The exception was run over crossing a dual carriageway to her favourite hunting ground. The latest one of mine lived to nearly seventeen and went out in the woods pretty much everyday. He slept at home in the house though.
Letting pet cats outdoors is a clearly anti-social behavior. Cats that are a natural part of the ecosystem are one thing -they belong there. But introducing predators into an ecosystem without thinking through the wide implications is the thing that is insane.
Prioritizing the feelings of "my cat" over "all the creatures that will be killed, all the neighbors who will have to clean up after my cat, and all the gardens and bird feeders that will suffer damage" is a mindset that is so selfish and myopic.
If you cannot give your cat a quality of life indoors that would not be cruel, you should not own a cat.
Also, imagine saying this about literally any other animals humans keep. "I just let my dog roam the neighborhood." Or "I just let my horse, chicken, goat, iguana, cockatoo, snake, ferret, etc roam the neighborhood."
What? It's absurd on its face. The only reason cats get this treatment is because we've traditionally allowed it.
I don't want to jump straight to calling animal control. They live right next to us and I intend to live here a long while. Someone else mentioned a device to make it hard to catch birds, which sounds like a good compromise if they insist on letting the cat out.
I don't think I'd need a trap, she's cautious, but sweet. I plan on seeing if I can just pick her up and bring her over to them and tell them she's been chasing birds in my yard.
Any discussion about this is going to be highly dependent on local conditions. But having said that: my house is in a rural area delightfully flooded with birds, with a variety of bird feeders I put out and insects I try to support, and a number of indoor/outdoor hunting cats, and there are plenty of tools to keep cat birding down to darn near zero. The basic thing to reason about is how cats hunt and birds feed. Cats need to sneak close, then ambush in a burst of speed. Birds though have extremely fast reaction time and of course can go straight up. They don't need much. Cats also have limited ability to jump, and will go after other easier creatures most of the time if they can.
So first, basic obstructions nearby the house/barn are kept low. I have some former field I've mowed down into lawn (full of whatever random stuff is around), there are some trees and rocks around, and that's it. There is plenty of field/woods full of approximately 12.45 billion chipmunks, mice and voles by my rough estimate, but small birds don't tend to ground feed there they and in brush off the ground. Cats can't sneak up well anywhere in the vicinity of feeders.
I have the feeders themselves suspended off the ground with ropes between trees/buildings and a second rope going to pulleys so I can lower them for refilling and cleaning. The feeder bottoms are at least 9-11' off the ground and 10' from the nearest structure or tree. This renders them effectively invulnerable not merely to cats but conveniently squirrels, raccoons, and black bears. With some platforms mixed in, even ground feeders can get some aerial action.
But most do want to be on the ground, and there all it takes is a small low wire fence. And by low I mean low, like a foot or two high maybe. It looks fine in the lawn and is easy to move, it's trivial to step over or for cats to hop over. But by forcing them to jump it destroys any last potential ambush or sprint. In the time they go vertical no bird will miss them and they lose speed. Even though cats can get over without the slightest difficulty it's amazing how they instantly don't even bother, guess they reason out right away that if they have to leap into the air well before their target it's pointless to even try. They don't stalk birds at all at this point just wander by.
The only remaining threat is bird strikes on windows. Cats figure out that noise pretty fast and will go to investigate if they're in the area (which they often aren't granted). No perfectly solution there except to aim to reduce bird strikes which is a good goal anyway. I use a mix of screens and stickers. Window screens as well as their core function of keeping out insects while letting in air are excellent shock absorbers and reflection disrupters for birds. The normal downside is they do interfere with views (and the enjoyment of bird watching to some extent), but high density enhanced visibility screens like UltraVue/BetterVue can help lesson that tradeoff. For windows where screens aren't doable or truly are undesirable (particularly in winter) I use WindowAlert stickers. They actually blend pretty well with windows, being fairly translucent in visible light, but reflect very strong in UV which most birds (particularly song birds) can see but we cannot. They're chemical so they have to be replaced every 4-6 months but are quite effective. I also use some regular visible stickers that simulate spider webs which birds instinctively avoid.
A bit of thought and effort and you can have quite a lot of wildlife living together reasonably well, and that includes a good number of feline friends. Totally natural lawn field, seeding some wildflower meadows, decent varieties of flora with no poisons, carpenter bee houses and so on can all give insects a boost too.
I wonder how these outdoor predation numbers compared to the number of animals killed to make their cat food and the number of animals killed for their owners to eat.
I think a more relevant question is how much natural habitat is destroyed by the factory farms that are used to make pet food. The number of farmed animals killed is kind of irrelevant when you're talking about the health of wild populations.
I don't think these numbers are comparable. To the best of my knowledge one cow can fill many cans of cat food, whilst a cat may eat many geckos in a day. Similarly I may eat an entire rabbit in a day, but it'll take a while for me to eat a sheep.
