Dog owners join birders in pushing for leash enforcement to protect burrowing owls at Berkeley park

By Stuart Luman March 12, 2019, 6 a.m.

The burrowing owls that make Cesar Chavez Park their winter home are bringing together dog owners and bird fans who are both urging the city to do more to enforce leash laws to prevent the rare birds from being harassed and chased from the park.

The small brown and cream mottled owls, with their piercing yellow eyes and long skinny legs, face continued threats at the park, including dogs disturbing their protected nesting areas when owners let them wander outside the park’s off-leash zone with minimal supervision.

Two owls returned to the park this winter season, after none were spotted last season, according to tallies from the Golden Gate Audubon Society.

Bird watchers are concerned that the uncontrolled dogs and other predators — such as other raptors and feral cats — could chase the tiny owls away from the park for good. Dog owners who frequent the park say they are also concerned and want the city to step in and do something about it.

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Oxford scientist warns of 'drastic action' if neighbours allow cats to roam and kill birds

A research scientist with a PhD in chemistry from Oxford sends a "dear cat menace" leaflet to neighbours warning of consequences if they do not control their 'killer cats'

An Oxford University educated research chemist has issued his cat-owning neighbours with leaflets warning them of "drastic action" if they continue to let their animals roam free and kill the birds in his garden.

Dr Clive Mowforth claims he has received arson threats in response to the leaflets after he told owners they should control their cats and stop letting them roam free to "murder" dozens of birds in his specially redeveloped garden.

He sent out the angry leaflets, complete with photos of the two "leading killers" and three dates detailing when the latest birds were killed.

The leaflet is addressed to "cat menace" and has been posted to more than 100 homes.

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Humans kill more birds than cats do

Friday, July 11, 2014

I am writing in response to the July 2 letter written by Michael Patterson of the Southern Maryland Audubon Society. While I understand his concern about the decreasing population of some species of birds, I think his blame is misplaced and his solution is unfeasible.

Cats are predatory animals, but they should not be held singly responsible for the decline of other species. Mr. Patterson himself acknowledged this by citing the considerable deer population that eats through the foliage, but he neglected to mention many other possible causes of bird decline.

In many ways, humans are to blame for the deaths of many birds. According to a Science News article from this year, Oklahoma State University researchers found that nearly a billion birds die every year from crashing into buildings in the United States. Skyscrapers only accounted for a marginal number of these deaths, while residences three stories or fewer, which may be particularly relevant to Mr. Patterson’s concern about low-nesting birds, made up nearly half of the birds killed in this manner.

Many millions more birds die from a combination of human factors such as crashing into cars, flying into wind turbines and being targeted by hunters.

Continued

Stop blaming cats: As many as 988 million birds die annually in window collisions.

By Susan Milius and Science News, Published: February 3

Hundreds of millions of birds die each year from crashing into windows

Between 365 and 988 million birds die from crashing into windows in the United States each year, according to a new report. That may be as much as 10 percent of the estimated total bird population of the country.

The estimate puts windows behind only cats as the largest source of human-related menaces that kill birds directly.

The biggest share of the collision deaths comes not from glass massacres at skyscrapers but from occasional collisions with the nation’s many small buildings, saysScott Loss of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. “It’s death by a million nicks.”

Continued

What’s killing birds and cats in our parks?

Dubai: Scores of birds and cats have died of suspected poisoning in various parks in Dubai, XPRESS has learnt.

Nina Stone, who teaches Brazilian martial arts Capoeira at Safa Park, said she has found 40 to 50 dead birds everyday over the past fortnight.

“It’s a horrifying sight. There are mynahs, crows, pigeons and hud huds either lying dead in the grass or in their final death throes. At least three cats, all neutered, have also died from suspected poisoning and many others have fallen sick.

“I took six of them to the vet and sheltered three others in my house, but there are still a few left near the nursery area. I hope I can rescue them as well before something happens,” she said.

Raining dead birds

At the Umm Suqeim Park the scenes are no less disturbing. “It’s almost like raining dead birds here. They are falling out of the skies and trees. The other day I saw a worker scoop away a bagful of dead mynahs and crows,” said a British woman visiting the park. Similar incidents have been reported from Al Barsha Park.

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Scientist Pitches Proposal to Curb Bird Deaths: A Tax On Cats

 Birds in Germany are dying by the millions and Peter Berthold of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, Germany, says that cats are to blame. By his calculation, cats kill approximately 50 million birds each year in Germany alone. The solution, he says, to this travesty, is a cat tax.

No, this isn’t from The Onion. And it’s not April Fool’s Day.

This guy is totally serious.

Berthold, who holds a Ph.D. and a post-doctoral degree, believes that an “ecological compensation tax” would help control the amount of damage on bird populations. He’s clearly passionate about the cause, having been an active member of the Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft, an organization dedicated to the protection of birds, since 1955.

He says, about cats, “[s]ometimes they kill a wonderful red-coloured bullfinch, or a wryneck, which could be the last in the district.”

Continued:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2013/05/04/scientist-pitches-proposal-to-curb-bird-deaths-a-tax-on-cats/

Killer Kitties: United Kingdom House Cats Threaten Local Bird Populations

In a recent survey from across the pond that may dampen the Internet’s unwavering devotion for funny felines, scientists have concluded that domestic cats in the United Kingdom are posing a serious threat to local bird populations, which has steadily declined over the years. Conservationists have since been trying to convince obstinate cat owners to be more mindful of their pet’s hunting behavior and look into options that would prevent any more birds winding up dead on their doorsteps. If action to protect native bird species isn’t taken soon, the U.K. is going to be known as the crazy cat lady of the world.

The University of Reading’s Dr. Rebecca Thomas had initiated the survey in response to the scientific community’s longtime sneaking suspicion that house cats and their high densities in urban areas were responsible for the decrease in the population of birds that resided in towns and cities. Thomas surveyed various owners, questioning them on the number of small creatures they brought home, their opinion on this behavior, and whether or not they were inclined to remedy this situation.

The results of the survey showed that nearly 20% of domestic cats had returned with four or more dead animals a year, with only 22% of owners having been gifted with these critter cadavers. Factoring in the knowledge that cats tend to take one out of the three animals they preyed upon back home, on average, scientists estimated that each individual cat in the study makes 18.3 kills a year. It may not seem like much, but according to Thomas it is a cause for alarm:

Continued: http://www.geekosystem.com/house-cats-threaten-birds/

Cat owners encouraged to keep pets indoors

One of Nova Scotia's leading environmental groups is encouraging cat owners to keep their pets indoors to keep more birds alive.

"When it comes to birds, we don't necessarily think about it but there's a large number of birds that are killed by cats every year," said Mark Butler, the bird conservation co-ordinator at the Ecology Action Centre.

"The estimate in Canada is about 100 million birds a year are killed by cats."

The Ecology Action Centre and the Hope for Wildlife Society have teamed up to create the Allied Cats program and spread the message.

"As a cat owner you don't want to think of your pet as the one that's causing any destruction because they're like family and you don't want that to be the case," said Veronica Sherwood, the owner of two male cats and part of the Allied Cats program.

"I was hearing more and more from friends of mine in the birding community that we were losing a lot of songbirds as a result of cat predation and feral cat colonies and cats being outside, taking the birds."

Continued:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/11/14/ns-cats-birds-eac.html