Forest Safety: Cats kill a billion birds and small animals in USA

Forest Safety: Cats kill a billion birds and small animals in USA
by J. Zimmerman, Ph.D.

Bird Flu Kills Cats Current hot books on trees and forests.

Forest and Tree Home, Glossary pages: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

Cats can be healthy and happy when kept indoors. Thanks to those of you who protect your cats - and thereby protect the songbirds from predation by cats.

Much of the following comes from the the American Bird Conservancy.

Cat Facts.

• "Scientists estimate that cats kill hundreds of millions of birds each year and three times as many small mammals."
• Cats kill chickadees and baby chipmunks - and more, much more.
• "Most birds killed by cats are members of relatively common species, like the Northern Cardinal, Song Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco; others are rare and endangered - the California Least Tern, Piping Plover, Western Snowy Plover and California Gnatcatcher."
• "Even well-fed cats kill wildlife."
• "The urge to hunt and the urge to eat are controlled by different portions of the cat's brain."
• "Once caught by a cat, few birds survive, even if they appear to have escaped. Infection from the cat's teeth or claws or the stress of capture usually results in death."

Predation of birds by cats.

Carol A. Fiore and Karen Brown Sullivan (http://www.geocities.com/the_srco/Article.html) report (2000) the effects of urban domestic cat predation on birds in Wichita, Kansas (300,000 residents):

1. What they did for a year (May 1998 - June 1999):
   • Collected birds killed by 41 cats ("Over half of the cats in the study did not have access to a litter box." Yikes.)
   • Analyzed fecal material.
   • Tracked cats using radio collars to estimate mean numbers of birds killed per cat.
   • Calculated (through data from local veterinarians) pet cat density.
2. What they found:
   • "the average urban cat in Wichita kills 4.2 birds per year." This is a minimum.
   • "1999-2000 American Pet Products Manufacturers Association's Pet Owner Survey estimates there are 64 million pet cats in the U.S. The number of feral/stray cats is not known." 64 Million * 4.2 ~ 269 Million (over a quarter billion) birds killed by domestic cats.
   • Predators:
     • "the majority of cats (83%) kill birds."
     • "Seven of the cats in the study were declawed ... [yet] six of these produced evidence of a kill."
     • "Predation and hunger are unrelated. All study cats were well-fed and yet continued to hunt."
     • Neutered or spayed cats did not hunt significantly less.
   • Prey:
     • "the greatest risk to all birds occurred during the months of May and June (43%)."
     • 96 of 113 killed birds were identified; they represented at least 23 species; most common was European Starling (14%) and House Sparrows (12%);
     • 9% of the killed were the House Wren, a protected species (protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918).
     • Also killed was a Dickcissel (listed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Partners In Flight Program as a species of conservation concern).
     • Killed birds were adults (69%), immatures (24.8%), and nestlings (6.2%).
   • "44% of cat owners in Wichita ... favor ... [cat] regulation. 69% of dog owners were in favor of cat regulation."
3. Who they quote (among others):
   • Hubbs (1951) found birds in 74 of 184 stomachs of feral cats examined; in the 74, bird remains were 25.2% of the bulk.
   • Churcher and Lawton (1987, 1989): collected prey items from cat owners in a small English village for one year; extrapolated to 20 million birds per year killed in England by house cats; obviously this is a lower limit (as it is based only on the items that the cats brought to owners).
   • Coleman and Temple (1993, 1994, 1996) estimated that cats kill 39 million bird per year in Wisconsin.

Protect the Birds

Much of this adapted from the American Bird Conservancy, which has many more suggestions:

1. "Support efforts in your community to protect wildlife and their habitats."
2. Help the birds meet their "three basic needs: food, water and plants that provide escape cover and nesting sites."
3. "Establish a brush pile for wildlife away from feeders."
4. "It is the responsibility of cat owners to ensure that their cats are safely indoors. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), American Humane Association (AHA), and other groups are working with American Bird Conservancy (ABC) on 'Cats Indoors! The Campaign for Safer Birds and Cats.' Through this campaign, we will educate and encourage cat owners to protect cats, birds and other wildlife by keeping cats indoors."

Happy Indoor Cat

Selected Tips for Happy Indoor Cats from the American Bird Conservancy, which has many more suggestions:

1. "Kittens kept indoors usually show no desire to venture outside as cats."
2. "We can change most cats into happy indoor pets."
3. "Provide a safe, outside enclosure, such as a screened porch."
4. "Play with your cat each day."
5. "Spay or neuter your kitten as early as eight weeks of age."
6. "Don't feed free-ranging cats without making a commitment to giving or finding them a permanent indoor home."

Protect your own health

1. Cats transmit bartonella bacterium causing swollen lymph nodes, joint pain, fever in healthy people.
2. Bartonella bacterium causes skin lesions in AIDS patients.
3. Cats carry salmonella, campylobacter, plague, cryptosporidium, and giardia.
4. Cat feces contain toxoplasmosis (parasite hazardous to AIDS patients).

Book Choice.

• Take a hike. Some recommendations from George Wuerthner's California's Wilderness Areas: Mountains and Coastal Ranges.
• Ronald M. Lanner's Conifers of California

Related pages.

• Home and List of Articles.
• General Safety Rules on how to explore the forests more safely.

Forest and Tree Home, Glossary pages: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

[Thanks for visiting.]

Copyright © 2006 by J. Zimmerman.