A Year of Helping Birds: Responsible Pet Ownership —Keep Your Cats Inside and Your Dogs Leashed
As detailed in this series’ first post, bird populations in North America have suffered a terrible decline in the past generation; there are almost 30% fewer birds now than there were in the 1970s. That’s about 3 billion birds in 50 years, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. We’ve lost large amounts of many popular species, including several favorite backyard birds, such as blue jays (1 in 4 lost), red-winged blackbirds (1 in 3 lost), and dark-eyed juncos (1 in 3 lost). There are many reasons for this decline, and in this month’s post for the series A Year of Helping Birds, we’re focusing on the many ways you can help birds by leashing your dog and keeping your cats inside.
Many of us bird lovers are also dog- and cat lovers. We own pet dogs and cats that we love and care for; they are family, and we do whatever we can to ensure they live happy and healthy lives. It’s a serious responsibility to make certain they have the right food, medical care, grooming and enrichment such as training, toys and outdoor time. This responsibility also includes ensuring the safety and well-being of other outdoor creatures - birds, especially - that share our yards, parks and other outdoor areas.
Cats Are the #1 Killer of Birds in the U.S. and Canada
Although we think of cats as intelligent and often cuddly companions, they are also predators with an irresistible urge to pounce and attack moving things: toys, yes, but if left outside, birds — lots of birds.
In fact, predation by domestic cats is the number-one threat to birds in the United States and Canada. Outdoor cats kill approximately 2.4 billion birds every year in the U.S., according to a study by the American Bird Conservancy. Worldwide, cats also contribute directly to the extinction of many bird species, as well as endangering bird species at risk, such as our acclaimed Piping Plovers. All outdoor cats kill birds, even cats that are well-fed and collared with bells.
Saving birds can also help save your cat. Did you know that the life expectancy of outdoor cats is only 2-5 years, while indoor cats can easily live to 17 years or more? While cats threaten the lives of birds, there are many threats to a cat’s life outdoors, including cars, wild animals such as coyotes and foxes, poisons, diseases and more. If you love your pet cat, keep them indoors to save birds - and your cat.
Cat with dead bird, photo: Unsplash
Dogs Are a Threat Too
Dogs love to run and play, but left unleashed in natural areas, they also love to chase and may bite and kill birds and other small animals. Dogs on beaches are an especially dangerous mix, as many shorebirds nest on the ground, leaving their nests and chicks vulnerable to dogs running free. Often, just the threat of a running dog loose on a beach can cause a whole colony of birds to fly away and abandon their nests. Dogs can attack other ground-nesting birds you may not even be aware of, such as woodcocks. Dogs are also a threat to birds during migration, when they chase and disturb birds that are resting during their long migration journeys north and south.
With Ownership Comes Responsibility
Responsible pet ownership is more than just keeping your pet healthy and happy, it also includes awareness of their impact on the natural world around them, including wild birds. Leashing dogs and keeping cats indoors is the easiest way to help save birds and keep your pet safe too.
Dog on leash, photo: Unsplash
Resources
Cats and Birds - American Bird Conservancy
Outdoor Cats: Single Greatest Source of Human-Caused Mortality for Birds and Mammals, Says New Study - American Bird Conservancy
The impact of free-ranging domestic cats on wildlife of the United States - Nature Communicatons
Why Leashing Dogs Is an Easy Way to Protect Birds and Their Chicks - National Audubon Society
Gone to the Dogs - Haikai Magazine
Check out all of our Year of Helping Birds articles
