Saving the songbirds

Dear Editor,

With spring in the air, Cats Protection and Songbird Survival have teamed up to offer advice on the best ways to help reduce hunting of songbirds by pet cats in the hope of protecting the threatened population.

A survey of 1,000 cat owners, conducted by Songbird Survival, revealed almost half of cat owners (46 per cent) aren’t aware of ways to reduce cat predation.

Hunting is a natural, innate behaviour for cats and they feel driven to do it.

Not all cats hunt and it generally reduces as they age.

However, just a few simple strategies can protect birds and benefit your cat’s welfare too.

Spring is a particularly vulnerable time for songbirds as we are in the nesting and breeding season, which runs up to July as they gather materials to make nests and fledglings begin to leave their nests.

It’s important to protect songbird populations from decline and cat owners and bird lovers alike can make a big difference by putting up nest boxes as well as not using pesticides in their gardens.

Top tips for reducing hunting:

Play with your cat for 5-10 minutes every day as it allows them to exhibit their natural hunting behaviour and reduces their motivation to seek out prey. Pick out a toy that mimics prey movement – such as a fishing-rod toy.

Feed cats with a premium, meat-rich food as it’s been scientifically shown to reduce hunting tendencies.

Keep cats in at night to help songbird populations and to reduce the chances of your cat being involved in a road traffic accident.

For further advice, please visit Songbird Survival’s Get EduCated campaign at songbirdsos.org/geteducated

Or visit Cats Protection’s website at www.cats.org.uk/ garden-and-outdoors

Yours faithfully,

Nicky Trevorrow, Cats Protection behaviour manager, and Susan Morgan, chief executive of Songbird Survival

West Sussex County Times, Freedom Works, Metro House, Northgate, Chichester, PO19 1BE