Federal study reveals top killer of wild birds

Photo Credit: Steve took it via Compfight cc

Pop quiz time! Each year, more birds in Canada are killed by:

A. window strikes.
B. vehicle collisions.
C. cats.
D. wind turbines.

What do you think? The answer may surprise you... Find out after the jump & learn what you can do to help.

Free-roaming felines pose the greatest threat to birds, according to a recent study conducted by Environment Canada. In fact, cats account for more than 70 per cent of the roughly 270 million bird deaths from human-related sources each year, plus millions of small mammals, reptiles and amphibians too!

Although the numbers are daunting, we can all take action to help reduce this harm to wildlife. Keep your cats indoors and find ways to entertain them (PDF) inside the house. Encourage others to do the same. Allow your cats outside only under supervision, use a CatBib, or build them an outdoor cat enclosure. Moving forward, protecting our country’s bird populations will require each of us to do our part.

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