Responsible Feline Companionship - Exercise It!

"We saw the reaction they (U.S. scientists) were getting. Some people were disbelieving. [...but the Canadian numbers are "defensible".
"We're not going to say it's an absolute number of kills by power lines, and the smaller-than-expected number of kills by tall buildings.
"Estimates presented here suggest a very substantial mortality of birds, with roughly 100 - 350 million birds killed annually by 5-10 million outdoor cats."
Richard Elliot, Environment Canada, wildlife research

"Cats are the biggest killer of our bird life in North America.
"People let them out. They're responsible, and indirectly they are leading to the killing of these birds by letting the cats out.
"A lot of people who own cats probably don't even realize. Those animals are decimating our bird population ... They're hunters. They're natural hunters. That's what they do.
"In some of the newer areas there would be this increase in bird kills." [Tree branches reflected in windows] "...and birds think they can fly through, and get killed."
Bruce Di Labio, Ottawa birder, ornithologist

Mr. Di Labio used to work in the ornithology division of the Canadian Museum of Nature. He says when the glass Bank of Canada building went up "I used to go down there and... I could go and pick up 60 birds in one morning". During migration in particular, when large flocks of birds are on the move, existentially travelling from north to south in expectation of winter, they fly at night to avoid being picked off by hawks. And they die at night, hitting reflective window glass.

Longline fishing kills 4% of Canada's black-footed-albatross annually, a bird slow to reproduce. The number killed is about the tip of the scale of what the species can endure from all causes combined, as a result. The studies recently published of overall bird mortality striking various species represents a tool in conservation efforts. And most of the studies have been published in the journal Avian Conservation and Ecology.

A large number of birds die hitting power lines. To obtain mortality figures for the tall buildings being responsible for bird deaths, researchers worked with the Fatal Light Awareness Program group in Toronto. An estimated 64,000 birds die hitting buildings. Not all that much in contrast to birds hitting houses; 22.4 million birds die that way. Another 25.6 killed hitting power lines, and road vehicles cause another 13.8-million bird deaths.

The Environment Canada national survey concluded that over 95% of the 168 million birds killed through human-related activities are victimized by cats, power lines, traffic or hitting houses. But it is cats who kill that estimated 196-million birds each year, a far greater number than all other human-linked bird kills combined. Figures coming out of surveys undertaken in the United States conclude with similar findings.

We are responsible for committing unspeakable carnage on the birds that delight us with their colourful presence, their songs, their flight, their very essence as a species sharing life on Earth with humankind.