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Would You Believe This Common Household Pet Is the Cold-Blooded Killer of 15% of the Bird Population?

Jan. 30, 2013 8:35am Liz Klimas

Owners of domesticated cats might have received a dead bird offering (or two) at their doorstep as a “gift.” But would you believe the seemingly cuddly felines are actually contributing to the death of billions (yes, billions) of birds and mammals each year.

Turns out pet cats are cold blooded killers. A study published in the journal “Nature Communications” found “free-ranging” domesticated cats kill between 1.4 billion and 3.7 billion birds and between 6.9 and 20.7 billion small mammals each year.

Free Ranging Cats Kill Up to 3.7 Billion Birds and up to 20.7 Billion Mammals Each Year

(Image: Shutterstock.com)

Live Science reported this to be 15 percent of the total bird population in the United States, according to Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute ecologist and study co-author Pete Marra.

Here’s more from Live Science on the study:

For this broader analysis, the team first looked at all prior studies on bird deaths and estimated that around 84 million owned-cats live in the country, many of which are allowed outdoors.

“A lot of these cats may go outside and go to 10 different houses, but they go back to their house and cuddle up on Mr. Smith’s lap at night,” Marra said.

Based on an analysis of past studies, the researchers estimated that each of those felines killed between four and 18 birds a year, and between eight and 21 small mammals per year.

Granted, its the ownerless, feral cats that cause the most bloodshed, according to the study.

And if you brought a cat into your home to keep mice at bay, the study also found the felines seem to prefer native species like voles and chipmunks, Live Science reported.

Given the effect of cats on native wildlife, one man in New Zealand has recently been advocating a complete cat ban. Mashable reported last week about businessman and philanthropist Gareth Morgan’s #catstogo campaign on Twitter.

Here’s an infographic from Morgan’s campaign:

The Smithsonian researchers suggest, first and foremost, keeping domesticated cats inside to help curb the killings. But, as Live Science pointed out, the larger issue are roaming kitties with no owner.

Featured image via Shutterstock.com.

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Comments (192)

FlatEarther
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 11:06am
More History repeating its self… Does anyone remember the plauges of Europe after they vilified and killed all the cats as an implement of black magic.

Rat populations tripled as did the fleas that carried the plague to humans.

Amazingly stupid.

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Bugleboy99
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:58am
You guys do understand that there is a movement to ban, get rid of pets in general. Not just cats. They are considered to be a luxury item by the commies (our current government) and the proletariat are not to be allowed such luxuries. Pets are something only capitalist pigs indulge in and they waist resources. All that dog and cat food you know. They have to be gotten rid of. Cats, dogs, pet birds, you name it, have to go. The propaganda campaign against pets has already begun. Look for it to amp up real soon. Give your cat and pooch a big hug and enjoy them while you can. They are coming for them. Just like your guns. I mean what did you expect when you elect ultra left wing people to the highest office in the land. And then there are those czars….always those unelected czars.

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Priscilla King
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:52am
That said…if anybody in New Zealand, Australia, or Hawaii is reading this, please DO confine your cat 24/7. The birds in your part of the world are not naturally adapted to coexist with cats, and your pet could do irreparable damage to a valuable species.

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satotbs
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:51am
Really Blaze. This is newsworthy item for this site? BTW & FYI, birds kill insects, small reptiles, small mammals, and carry diseases that can kill humans.They eat seeds and crops from our gardening efforts. Birds good, cats bad, right! It’s life people, been going on since long before we noticed it.

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Priscilla King
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:50am
Shame on anybody who thinks a study conducted in New Zealand is relevant to North America. Different bird species, different situation. In N.Z. free-range cats really are attacking flightless endangered birds. In North America cats are a threat only to ground-nesting birds, and even when these birds are endangered cats need to be confined only during nesting season.

If you’re in the continental U.S.A. and see a cat with a dead adult bird, DO remove the bird from the cat–it was sick, and will probably make the cat sick. Don’t handle the bird–it might make you sick too. Just give thanks that the cat put it out of its misery in a relatively humane way before it could infect other living creatures, burn the carcass, and scrub your hands afterward.

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- thom48708
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 11:02am
  So feral cats are not a part of the eco-system? Man….Liberals and their policies.
  
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OniKaze
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:36am
Not sure why, but people tend to forget that cats are PREDATORS! Just like their large cousins, even small house cats still hold on to their killer instinct. We tend to think that just because cats are smaller and cuter than dogs that they are less dangerous.. This is untrue…

It comes down to base nature.. Canines (Dogs) are scavengers while Felines (Cats) are predators… To think that people are surprised by the fact that cats are born and bred killers just shows that people just didn’t pay attention back in 4th grade science class….

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Dagnabbit5
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:31am
New Zealand should send their cats to Aus. They have a huge mouse and toad problem over there.

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Robey1960
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:28am
My outdoor cat is 18 pounds and kills gophers. I’ve never seen him kill a bird, not that he hasn’t, just haven’t seen any signs of it. No dog has ever scared my cat…he’s been bit and scarred, but he did some scarring on the attacker too and he walked away, head held high!

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Fubared
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:27am
Common cats and feral (no offense Encidiot) can take out an area’s rabbit, quail, tree rats, chipmunks, and all small critters. The cat is one of the few critters that kills just because it can. Clip, neuter, and spay all libs, and keep your kitty close to home.

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Grand design
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:26am
I wonder if cats could have the same effect on Democrats?

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- OniKaze
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:38am
  Nahh…. cats only kill stuff that interests them and smells like food….
  
  The smell of Poo coming out of a democrats mouth would scare off most all cats…
  
  Report this comment
OniKaze
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:25am
Don’t rely on a pitbull….

My cat felled 2 of my former roommates pitbulls (1 died, and 1 was seriously hurt) after they would try to get in her food bowl….

She would have lost if they teamed up, but fortunately for her, he didn’t have both dogs at the same time…

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OldSurfRat
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:23am
Hey RJJ

When we moved here we had a bad rat problem. 5 cats later and No More Rat Problem!!

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thom48708
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:18am
Clearly, certain breeds of cats need to be banned, and in order to own one people should need to go through an extensive background check and be registered in a government data base.

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RJJinGadsden
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:18am
Out in our rural Alabama area our cats do their perceived job. I often see them with field mice, moles, and ground squirrels. One is adept at catching his share of regular squirrels who chew up our phone lines for some reason. AT&T has not been happy with them.

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OldSurfRat
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:18am
Hi Monk

A maine coon is not a cat it’s a 20 pound dog LOL
We had one and the neighborhood dogs always stayed clear.

As for the story. “Cats kill birds” NO duhhhhh.

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willbedone
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:14am
What’s the beef? Birds, mice, snakes, and other creatures need to be kept in control. I introduced a pair of “feral” cats to our small grass strip airport. They do a nice job of keeping away most of the birds, field mice, and other livestock. They being feral don’t need my daily attention.

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The-Monk
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:06am
You never met our Maine Coon……

Cat 3, Dog 0

They look like this… and ours lived for 23 years.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=maine+coon+cat+pictures&id=9B912A6AC14F9C550C1FC3AD6A8AB5BD789EE855&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=02C364FB3132795C9DF48226E1B05B80FDE9F5A0&selectedIndex=33

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=maine+coon+cat+pictures&id=9B912A6AC14F9C550C1FC3AD6A8AB5BD789EE855&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=9B912A6AC14F9C550C1FC3AD6A8AB5BD789EE855&selectedIndex=0

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=large+maine+coon+cat+pictures&id=6CB3808F04DD2FCCB9BB7C0747B4CF6663A21E33&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=6CB3808F04DD2FCCB9BB7C0747B4CF6663A21E33&selectedIndex=0

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=large+maine+coon+cat+pictures&id=6CB3808F04DD2FCCB9BB7C0747B4CF6663A21E33&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=2EAC9B0E680B9A825897AA6E60A15359ED2B20C4&selectedIndex=49

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battles
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:05am
I was never allowed to own a cat and was raised to hate them. We were bird hunters and when you would come in contact with a game warden, they would many times tell you to try to shoot every house cat you see. They would explain that feral cats devastate the wild bird population. As if that isn’t enough, the recent articles about cats infecting humans with Toxoplasmosis should give any cat hater joy for having shunned and disliked cats. Researchers in England think that 350,000 people in England are infected with this brain parasite every year. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis

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swimmer1940
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:04am
I shoot any cats that venture onto my property. They decimate my nesting birds, and I can’t stand the the sneaky things. Cats should be kept in the houses of their owners where they are safe from cars, disease etc.

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G-WHIZ
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:02am
Would you believe…GENNERATOR-WINDMILLS kill thousands of times more BATS and BIRDS than housecats???

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Atrum Angelis
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:00am
“New Zealand would be a lot closer to being predator free.”

Predators are a part of nature. Removing all the predators from an environment would cause an explosion in the prey species and you’d just have new problems. Did these people not learn anything in school science class?

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- OniKaze
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:41am
  I agree…
  
  Most people are under the assumption that all killing is bad…
  
  Well, shocking news is that our planet DEPENDS of the cycle of Predator and Prey…
  
  Remove one, and watch nothing but chaos ensue….
  
  Report this comment
Mahtoska
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 9:55am
The entire city of Longmont, Co is designated a bird sanctuary. The threatened to put my Maine Coone in kitty jail if I let him outside. Some people arise to positions of power having become educated beyond their intellect. They read books and swallow the soft pablum of institutionalized progressivism believing (particularly in this case) that a lack of predators is a good thing but the historical record is replete with examples of population crashes and devastating repercussions from having eliminated predators from the environment. In point of fact, predators such as cats (wild and domestic) wolves, and other predators tend to focus on the weak and the slow leaving the healthy, strong and adept species to reproduce. I’ll lay you odds the folks who want to ban predators are the very same ones who want to ban dodge ball from the play ground and want to award participation trophies to kids who don’t excel in their endeavors…..We are breeding a generation of wimps and sissies… congratulations.

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- qpwillie
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:03am
  Introduced predators have been known to wipe out entire populations of native species. If you want a cat, keep it at home where pets are supposed to be kept.
  
  I live in a neighborhood where cats are roaming all over the place. Each one has at least one or two people claiming “that’s MY cat” because they feed the damn thing when it decides to come by. A roaming animal is nobody’s “pet” in the true sense of the word.
  
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- OneTermPresident
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:24am
  @QPWILLIE… Cats have been around for a couple of years now… what bird are they responsible for wiping out? Bring your parrot in… it’ll be safe.
  
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- qpwillie
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 10:36am
  @OneTermPresident
  I have no problem with you keeping a king cobra as a pet so long as you have the common consideration to keep it off other people’s property.
  
  An animal that roams all day and comes by to be fed and perhaps find a warm place to spend the night is not a pet. It’s a menace.
  
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qpwillie
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 9:51am
I have a bird (parrot) as a pet. If you want a cat, keep it at home because if it comes on my property and threatens my bird, I will do what I feel necessary to protect the bird. You have my full permission to do the same if my parrot comes onto your property and endangers your cat.

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Ar-shooter
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 9:44am
My cats favorite hangout………under the bird feeder !

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OneTermPresident
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 9:41am
Well… they’re not killing Golden Eagles and “any” bird that comes close to them like the inefficient, over priced, landscape robbing, cradle to grave taxpayer funded wind turbines are in the U.S. and around the world.

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