Bratpony wrote:
Anyone got any figures about cats affected wild bird populations? I've always been taught (by my friends studying zoology and conservation and their tutors, anyway) that blaming domestic cats is just scare-mongering and there's no proof they have an impact at all. The real problems are climate change and loss of habitat.
For example, the cuckoo is in trouble here because a) it spends its autumn/winter in africa where there have been droughts and their food supply is low, b) it has to cross the Sahara on its way back, which is getting wider by the year with fewer resting places and, c) our weather is changing, making moth caterpillars, their favourite food here, rarer.

The only statistics I can find at the moment are from dubious sources. I simply can't easily locate raw data on the subject, and everyone that has web-published research into this field is obviously in favor of doing away with cats, as evidenced by websites full of rhetoric about cats, and unfounded claims of the domestic cat's success rate in hunting. A 70% success rate, claims one site! As far as I know, very few predators even break the 50% margin! And the 70% success rating was based on a study of only 11 cats, which is hardly a representative sample. Additionally, there may have been things the cats' owners did that skewed the odds heavily in favor of the cats, such as having accessible nest boxes, and feeding tables, and 'baiting' birds into areas too close to cover, allowing for a more successful hunt. I'm with you on the scare-mongering Bratpony, I really cannot see how some of the numbers claimed could even come close to the truth.

I believe what has had the greater effect is expansion into previously pristine land during urban development. Of course, this does, in Britain, mean more cats in an area, so if you're not a terribly bright individual, it appears that cats are to blame... however, the cats wouldn't be there if the area hadn't been developed... I think the habitat loss is the more likely cause of decline in bird population, along with other human disruption of breeding sites.

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