Numerous studies have shown that free-roaming domestic cats are significant predators of birds and other wildlife. A study at the University of Wisconsin found that a rural cat's diet may contain 35 percent songbirds. In this four-year study, it was estimated that rural cats in Wisconsin killed an estimated 39 million birds each year. Other figures vary, but it has also been estimated that cats in the U.S. kill between 4 and 5 million birds everyday and a billion small mammals each year.
Other cat studies over the past 50 years have shown that a cats' prey is made up of:
Even when well-fed, cats will continue to hunt and kill birds and other wildlife. Observations of free roaming cats show that an individual cat is capable of killing over 1,000 wild animals per year. Cats will catch birds and other wildlife and play with them rather than killing them outright. Domestic cats don't kill to eat; they pursue their natural instincts as hunters and predators for entertainment. Declawing a cat does not stop it from killing wildlife.
Ground-nesting birds are very susceptible to free-roaming cats. So are young birds that leave above ground nests and spend a few days on the ground learning to perfect their flying skill.
