Dear Birders
Being fairly new to the 'debate' about cats and birds, I'm not sure if the
following matters have been raised, so ignore me if they have.
As a birdlover who has a cat in the household I have kept a tally of its
predations. This is possible because as someone said, cats are very
territorial. This one never leaves the immediate surrounds and brings all
its kills home to the back doorstep as far as I can tell. (And unless it
selects unevenly among native and non-native species to bring home the
species distribution to be unaffected even if the numbers are an
underestimate).
The tally over the past 5 years:
Rats 34
Mice 19
Possum 1
Indian Myna 5
Feral Pigeon 2
Indian Turtle Dove 5
Starling 3
Little Wattle Bird 2
Red Wattle Bird 1
House Sparrow 4
Blackbird 12
Other than noting 34 birdkills, unacceptable even for a belled cat, many
interesting questions arise:
a)On a simple tally exotics suffer considerably more predation. Does that
constitute an advantage to Australian species? This could be considered in
simple numerical terms, in terms of competition for nesting sites, and in
terms of predation (eg do rats raid nests?)
b)Despite many kills and many cats in the area, none of the resident
Australian species seems to be in trouble around my place (Hawthorn). The
only major long term fluctuations I have noticed are a huge increase in
Rainbow Loris, a lesser increase in Brown Thornbills and Little
Wattlebirds, and a decrease in Silvereyes. None of these seems related to
cat predation. Does cat predation have any effect on urban bird populations
and their distributions(as opposed to individual birds?). (A question here
is simply whether there is a saturation point, and that if cats didn't kill
other factors would take over - such as limited nesting sites and food
supply).
c)Is cat predation variable? eg we have had a Willie Wagtail in the garden
on and off for 3 years.(I think its the same one as it has only a very
faint left eyebrow). Despite spending a lot of time on the ground it
survives and I've not seen evidence of catkill. Likewise Magpie larks. If
so, does this variability favour exotics or Australian species?
d)Do cats constitute the same problem in urban areas that they do in semi
rural and rural areas? I note a while back people getting into killing mode
over exotic bird species. These seem much thicker on the ground than
Australian species in urban areas. So maybe the urban cats are doing the
job for those of you who like to deal in death and eugenics? Regional (eg
council) regulations can vary, so that a selective response is possible
based on the local problem, rather than imposing a universal 'solution'.
My point is not to defend cats. If it came to a choice between birds and
cats the choice would be clear. But is this the choice? And is it the same
choice universally? It does seem to me that the 'debate', at least as it
appears on the birding-aus site, could do with some more considered
thinking, and a bit less prejudice.
Pat O'Malley
School of Law and Legal Studies
La Trobe University
Melbourne
Australia 3083
Phone +613 9479 2133
Fax +613 9479 1607
Email:
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