How to keep the cats away from the birds

MsFifers

Came across an article giving suggestions on how to limit the damage your pet cats can do to baby birds at this time of year. They suggest keeping your cat well fed, restricting access to outside at dusk & dawn, keeping all bird feeders up high. See below for the full list of tips:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-252235


Interestingly, they state elsewhere on the site that cats are not causing any significant harm to wild bird populations (this is in the UK, but am sure its similar here), as cats tend to mostly catch sickly birds anyway.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I hope you don't regret starting another Cats V Birds thread.:)

Yes, the measures the RSPB suggest will certainly help but it really requires Cat owners to enact at least 80% of the suggestions. Also, this will help reduce - not eliminate - losses.

On their site the RSPB state :
Whilst not all cats hunt, there is little doubt that cats kill a very large number of birds.
Whether this represents additional mortality over and above that due to other causes is unclear. Estimates of bird kill rates are sufficiently high, however, to suggest that we should adopt the precautionary principle and look for ways to reduce predation. (http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/science/report/2005/process/catsandcollars.asp)


I'd appreciate a link to where they say Cats are not really causing any harm and about sickly birds. Thanks in advance.

Overature

but bells around the cats neck

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Overature wrote: »

but bells around the cats neck

As a single measure this is of no great benefit. The tinkle of a bell is not an alarm sound in nature and often does not, in itself, spook the birds sufficiently. Follow the rest of the list MsFifers linked for decent results.

MsFifers

Here you go Joziah Gorgeous Strictness for that other link on cats not affecting bird numbers too much:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/gardening/unwantedvisitors/cats/birddeclines.asp

And yes, I did have a slight worry that this would descend into another anti-cat rant or inside/outside cat row - but I think we are all a lot more mature now.

Joziah Gorgeous Strictness wrote: »

I hope you don't regret starting another Cats V Birds thread.:)

Yes, the measures the RSPB suggest will certainly help but it really requires Cat owners to enact at least 80% of the suggestions. Also, this will help reduce - not eliminate - losses.

On their site the RSPB state :
Whilst not all cats hunt, there is little doubt that cats kill a very large number of birds.
Whether this represents additional mortality over and above that due to other causes is unclear. Estimates of bird kill rates are sufficiently high, however, to suggest that we should adopt the precautionary principle and look for ways to reduce predation. (http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/science/report/2005/process/catsandcollars.asp)


I'd appreciate a link to where they say Cats are not really causing any harm and about sickly birds. Thanks in advance.

morganafay

Overature wrote: »

but bells around the cats neck

This worked when my cat was catching my neighbours doves everyday! :eek: Until my neighbour saw the collar on the cat and took if off in case she got it caught on something, even though it was a safety collar. It had been on long enough that the cat forgot about the doves though!

I think the birds around here have learned to avoid the cats. I've been watching them, going up to steal the cat's food, and they're so smart, they never get caught.

blondie7

funnily enough your not suppose to feed birds at this time of the year, something to do with baby birds learning how to root out worms and not being dependant on seeds from bird feeders. My cats thankfully dont hunt birds only rats and mice

morganafay

I think if you have cats around (your own or neighbours) then it might be a good idea not to feed the birds anyway, because the cats learn the place where the birds always are. There are always loads of birds around my house because of cat food being left over and them coming to eat it, but thankfully the cats aren't big hunters. One of them (out of five) will catch the odd bird or mouse, but not many at all.

The only time he killed a lot was when house martens were building nests in the shed he killed 5 that I know of. But at least they never had babies in the shed, because my dogs sleep in there, so it wouldn't have been a good idea. This year, the shed is closed to keep them out.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

blondie7 wrote: »

funnily enough your not suppose to feed birds at this time of the year, something to do with baby birds learning how to root out worms and not being dependant on seeds from bird feeders.

Just for clarity. This is an utter myth. Current thinking is that Garden birds should be fed all year round. Adult birds need the extra food source for themselves at this exhausing time of year. They will not choke their young by feeding them whole peanuts (which should be in a fine mesh feeder anyway). They still feed their young on caterpillars etc although feeding at your bird table themselves. The young birds do not become dependant; as the reduced level of garden appearances in August proves. As for not learning to hunt worms etc if using a bird table - that's the best one I've heard in a long time. Not true I'm afraid.
Please continue to provide food and water all year round.

Sorry MODs for straying off topic but the statement had to be corrected as the dis-information would do harm.

blondie7

Joziah Gorgeous Strictness wrote: »

Just for clarity. This is an utter myth. Current thinking is that Garden birds should be fed all year round. Adult birds need the extra food source for themselves at this exhausing time of year. They will not choke their young by feeding them whole peanuts (which should be in a fine mesh feeder anyway). They still feed their young on caterpillars etc although feeding at your bird table themselves. The young birds do not become dependant; as the reduced level of garden appearances in August proves. As for not learning to hunt worms etc if using a bird table - that's the best one I've heard in a long time. Not true I'm afraid.
Please continue to provide food and water all year round.

Sorry MODs for straying off topic but the statement had to be corrected as the dis-information would do harm.

no need to take it so personal, i was just going by what the vet told my mum!

doctor evil

blondie7 wrote: »

no need to take it so personal, i was just going by what the vet told my mum!

There are still vets that think it improves an animals personality to have a litter before being spayed and that rabbits and guinepigs are fine to be housed together.

We have a bell on our cat, it is attached to his disc which contains his microchip phone number, these hang at different heights and do a very nice jingle. Even though he is long haired he can't silence these by holding head/neck/shoulders still. You don't get the best out of the bell by attaching a tiny one direct to the collar.

We feed the birds all round, this time of year we don't feed them as much as we would in the winter and not with the same type of food.

It is not bad practice to feed birds in a garden where there is a cat as the more pairs of eyes keeping sentry duty the better.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

blondie7 wrote: »

no need to take it so personal, i was just going by what the vet told my mum!

Who's taking anything personally? I was just clarifying an error that is common place. Sorry if you read anything else into it. Vets may be , in fact are, good at healing and curing animals but what most know about feeding wild birds is limited. Anyway. Feed all year round. And sorry again if I touched a nerve somewhere as it was no intentioned.

Feargal as Luimneach

I stopped feeding at the start of May. There's too much cover with leaves on hedge and long grass. My cat uses the cover well and catches alot of birds, eventhough the feeders are well in the open:(. He's quite fond of redpoll... During the winter he doesn't kill too many (lack of cover) eventhough with my nine feeders there could be 30/40 birds in garden at a time.

EGAR

I have stopped feeding them as well as there are oodles of insects etc around now.

My cats are being fed indoors so there is no temptation for the birds to steal their food, they do however, try to steal chicken and dog food. My cats are afraid of the rooster so th little birds are safe.

Bells do not work if a cat has found a birds nest. Some people I know only let their cats out at night during nesting season.

So far the boys only brought home two mice and I had to rescue an adult frog from Morris who thought the jumping thingy was great fun.

Ivan tries to catch insects and he is getting very good at it, at least he eats what he catches :eek:.

Qualitymark

Main thing I do when I have a cat is to keep her in at night. Always. Let her out when it's eight or nine or so, and go out with her into the garden so the birds see you - you're big!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Feargal as Luimneach wrote: »

My cat uses the cover well and catches alot of birds, eventhough the feeders are well in the open:(. He's quite fond of redpoll... During the winter he doesn't kill too many (lack of cover) eventhough with my nine feeders there could be 30/40 birds in garden at a time.

Catches a lot of birds? In Winter doesn't kill "too many"? Really you should do the birds a favour and not attract them to the garden at all. I know this sounds harsh and I know there will be all kinds of disagreement here, but it sounds like your garden, thanks to the Cat, is not bird friendly. I'm not being anti-Cat as I know some gardens where the Cats never kill birds, but in your case I wouldn't run the risk.

morganafay

One of my rabbits has started tipping over his food bowl, so loads of jackdaws all come up to try to get the food (even though he's in a run) and he hides behind his house until they get close and then runs out and chases them and jumps in the air. It's hard to know what a rabbit is thinking but I think he's having fun!

And when I only had one guinea pig, a blue tit used to fly into her run (through a really small space) and eat food with her, and keep her company.

And there are millions of magpies eating the cat food everyday. Has anyone ever noticed how smart magpies are? They're much braver than crows and will come right up to the cats but know they can easily get away. The kitten chases them but the other cats don't even bother.

My old cats used to kill crows, had no idea how they did, because we had extra giant crows around. It's like my new cats are lazy though, because they can't hunt at all.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Just for clarity: Magpies are Crows. What you refer to as Crows were probably Rooks or Jackdaws.

IvySlayer

morganafay wrote: »

One of my rabbits has started tipping over his food bowl, so loads of jackdaws all come up to try to get the food (even though he's in a run) and he hides behind his house until they get close and then runs out and chases them and jumps in the air. It's hard to know what a rabbit is thinking but I think he's having fun!

Awwww he thinks he's a cat :pac:

Feargal as Luimneach

Joziah Gorgeous Strictness wrote: »

Catches a lot of birds? In Winter doesn't kill "too many"? Really you should do the birds a favour and not attract them to the garden at all. I know this sounds harsh and I know there will be all kinds of disagreement here, but it sounds like your garden, thanks to the Cat, is not bird friendly. I'm not being anti-Cat as I know some gardens where the Cats never kill birds, but in your case I wouldn't run the risk.

It's catch 22. But I'd rather feed them during the winter especially during the harsh winter we had and let them take their chances with the cat the two hours in evening he's let out. He'd catch around 1/2 birds per week during the winter. I have nine feeders and the birds eat around 5 kilo of feed per day during the winter. That probably saved more than the 1/2 birds a week he catches. a|Any of the birds he caught were in good condition so I know they weren't starving.
I don't feed once the garden starts to green up, he would catch alot more with the cover

morganafay

Joziah Gorgeous Strictness wrote: »

Just for clarity: Magpies are Crows. What you refer to as Crows were probably Rooks or Jackdaws.

Oh yeah, I meant rooks. There's jackdaws around too, I was calling them crows too but my dad told me they were jackdaws and the others were rooks. Are rooks, jackdaws and magpies all types of crows then?

Magpies are definitely the bravest ones though

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

morganafay wrote: »

Oh yeah, I meant rooks. There's jackdaws around too, I was calling them crows too but my dad told me they were jackdaws and the others were rooks. Are rooks, jackdaws and magpies all types of crows then?

Magpies are definitely the bravest ones though

Jackdaw, Rook, Magpie, Hooded /Gray Crow, Ravan, Jay, and Cough are all Crows