Domestic cats — cuddly, purring, and well-fed — kill hundreds of millions of song birds each year. Domestic cats are among the world’s most efficient predators. The problem, of course, is not with the cats. They’re doing what comes naturally. The problem is with cat owners who let their pets outside, where the cat’s hunting instinct is dominant, full tummy or not. Birds have enough problems with us. Keeping cats indoors is one thing we can do to help birds that costs nothing and is immediately effective. The cat benefits, too. Indoor cats are healthier and safer. The American Bird Conservancy has placed an explanatory video on YouTube. The Web address is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fvN7FNUPas. Take a look. The cat pictured here — an animal with an attitude and what appears to be too many toes — was hunting on a golf course in Arizona a couple of years ago.  Â

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 9:39 pm and is filed under Backyard birding, Bird conservation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.