A new study conducted in Athens, Georgia, by National Geographic and the University of Georgia put cameras on house cats allowed outdoors. Thirty percent of the cats killed wild animals, an average of two kills per week. Even though only 12% of the kills were birds, if you extrapolate the data it leads to huge estimates of the numeber of birds killed by free-roaming cats each year. Also, the cats tended to do dangerous things, like cross roads and eat and drink things that they found. It’s safer for your cats and for wildlife for your pets to be kept indoors!
You can read more about the study in the Los Angeles Times, on the American Bird Conservancy website, or on the site produced by those who did the study.
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
Thanks for posting this, Corey!
Athens, Georgia. Hmmmmmmm. Has anyone checked the pics for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers?